Forced
by Fictionnaire
Summary: Gibbs comes into work late and seriously angry at everything. Gibbs' attitude begins affecting his team. But is something seriously wrong? Rated for language and violence
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Alright… So I decided to give Tony a break for a little while. I decided not to torture or hurt Tony in either way in this fic or maybe just indirectly. So who shall I pick on in this one? I know, I shall have a go at Gibbs…

_(Gibbs stands back and does the Gibbs stare while sipping a coffee)_

_Abby: Ooh how exciting… Somebody's daring to go at Gibbs. Isn't it exciting Gibbs?_

_Ziva: Someone has guts_

_Gibbs: It had to come sooner or later_

_Tony: Ha! Now somebody else gets a turn._

_McGee: Easy Tony, don't forget stories can change in an instant_

_Tony: Shut up Probie._

* * *

Chapter one: Shoulda stayed home

Ziva sat down and watched Tony go through some of his mail. Tony almost made a federal case out of getting some mail. She looked at McGee who was looking at Gibbs' empty seat. It was unusual that Gibbs wasn't there yet.

"Maybe he's with the director or something McWorrier," Tony suggested and waited for a response.

There was something stirring in Ziva's gut. She stood up from the desk and walked to the stairs to ascend to the offices. She was going to see the director to find out. If it was true that he's in a meeting then they'd know for sure.

"Have you tried his cell phone, McGee?" Tony asked as he sorted through his mail. "Better wait till Ziva comes back first," he said. Perhaps it was nothing. But, Gibbs had suddenly left early the day before. It was something that had rarely happened.

"Who died and made you Boss?" McGee asked venomously. It was hard to believe that Tony was taking it upon himself to take the reigns.

"I really hope you don't end up regretting those words Probie," Tony said as he stood up and walked over to McGee's desk. "You better hope that that line doesn't ring true," he accentuated the point.

"Look, I didn't mean anything by it," McGee quickly backtracked from his previous words. "It's just a saying ok?" He furiously defended his own words.

"Think before you speak McUnthinker," Tony checked his watch and pursed his lips. It was definitely unusual for Gibbs to be running this late. He tried to sound positive and wasn't even sure if that was coming through in his voice.

Ziva had entered the bullpen quickly stood in front of the senior field agent's desk. "Tony," she said to get his attention. "He is not with the Director and Director Vance had called in sick," Ziva gave the quick rundown.

"How about Gibbs? Did he call in sick as well?" Tony asked.

"No, he did not," Ziva said for a moment.

"Hm, McGee… Try Gibbs' cell," Tony immediately took the role as team leader at his Boss' absence. It was something that he always did if Gibbs wasn't around. "Ziva, try his home phone and put it on speaker if he answers," Tony ordered.

"On it," Ziva said as she began dialing up the number on the phone.

"His cell is switched off," McGee told him.

Ziva put the phone on speaker and Tony stood up and approached her desk.

"_Hello?"_ Gibbs said on the other end. _"Who is this?"_ He asked.

"Hey Boss," Tony said loudly and cheerfully. Gibbs sounded alright. "Was just checking to see if you were alright since you're not at work yet," he thought that it was unusual for him to take time off.

"_I had some personal business to take care of Tony,"_ Gibbs responded after a bit of a pause. _"Our team has been taken off active duty for the next couple of days or until further notice,"_ Gibbs added.

"Right," Tony responded. "Just we get worried when you don't call. Director Vance isn't in either… Is there something we need to be doing?" He asked. He was starting to sound like Abby.

"_Yes, I know Director Vance called in sick. I'll be there in an hour alright? And, Tony, don't call me again to ask me why I'm not there. As for something to do… Well find something Tony since you've been at NCIS long enough to know things or do you need me to hold your hand?"_ Gibbs said before hanging up.

The loud click made Tony take a step back. Whatever personal business Gibbs was talking about it sure sounded urgent. "Being taken off active duty, is that not unusual?" Ziva asked as she studied the reaction from Tony. This sure didn't seem like usual actions to her.

Tony thought for a moment. This just had an odd feeling about it. Could it have been something terribly wrong or was his mind just playing tricks on him? The hell with that he thought, he had at least a couple of hours left with being in charge and without a superior officer being around. Tony's grin grew wider.

"Well?" Ziva asked after a moment of silence. "What are we going to do?" She looked at the senior field agent for instructions.

Tony stopped from saying something. It was unusual that they weren't already working on a project of some sort. He realized that this time, he had to fish for something for the team to work on. He opened Gibbs' draws to look over some old case files. He placed one on McGee and Ziva's desk. "Alrighty then," he said. "These are folders pertaining to the Chamberlain Disappearance case. I want you to see if there was anything that could have been missed," Tony explained as he gave them work to do.

"Hey Tony," Abby yelled from halfway across the floor as she approached at a quicker than normal pace. "I haven't seen Gibbs this morning. I had to come up here and get my own cup of Caf-Pow. You know how annoying that is. I have to stop work, come up and get my drink, go back down and start work again. It's annoying. Why isn't Gibbs here?" She asked.

Abby always managed to send Tony's head in a spin when she got worried about someone from Team Gibbs. "Don't worry Abs," Tony told her. "We just spoke to him on the phone, he's just running late that's all," he said.

"Oh alright," Abby acted somewhat more subdued. "What are you doing?"

"Working on the Chamberlain disappearance case," McGee answered for Tony as he brought up the file pictures on the plasma screen.

"Hey," Tony looked at the picture closely. "Doesn't Mrs Chamberlain look like Meryl Streep to you?" He joked. "Well a much younger Meryl Streep anyway. Like late eighties or something," he said.

"I do not know of this Meryl Streep," Ziva shook her head. "So, what was this case about?" She asked Tony.

Tony read through the notes and to get the summary of the case. "They were at a campground one night when during the preparation for the barbecue their child went missing. No body, no ransom," he sifted through the case.

"That was when they suspected murder," McGee continued. "Of course the lack of the body and evidence the case quickly went cold," he read through some of the notes as well. There had been a whole lot of speculation from authorities and NCIS but nothing had eventuated. "Nothing new had turned up," McGee said.

"Oh, that's so sad," Abby said. "I have to get down to my babies and continue working or the other teams will start riding me," she put in before heading out of the bullpen.

"It was a difficult case?" Ziva asked. "Must have been difficult for the parents," she commented as she looked at the pictures carefully.

"It was difficult. As for the mother, the media quickly turned on her. They said she was handling it too well," Tony thought for a moment. Since they were off active duty he couldn't suggest that they go to the field and canvas the area.

"What do they suggest happened to the child?" Ziva asked.

"As I said, speculation was rampant and some ideas were so ridiculous that they were quickly dismissed," Tony said as he read through. "Bring up the last known photograph of the baby, Probie," he ordered and McGee pressed a couple of buttons on the remote to show the picture of mother kneeling next to the child and in a loving embrace. "Some had even suggested that the child in this photograph taken three days before the disappearance was already dead," Tony said as he looked even more closely at the photograph. Unfortunately it was just too blurry to tell. The husband who took the photo didn't have a very steady hand.

"Have they sent the original photograph to be enhanced?" Ziva asked.

"Yes," McGee answered the question. "Unfortunately any enhancement still didn't make it clear enough," he shook his head and moved on to the next picture.

They were typing away on the computer trying to track down the people that were at the campground from four years ago. It wasn't an easy task. They all looked up together as one when Gibbs walked out of the elevator. Gibbs adjusted his jacket collar and looked around before walking into the bullpen.

"Good Morning Boss," Tony greeted as he watched Gibbs sit at his desk.

"The hell it is," Gibbs said coldly. "What are you three working on?" He asked them. "Don't you dare tell me you've been doing nothing all morning," everyone could tell there was a dangerous edge to his tone.

"We've been looking over a four year old cold case," Tony stood up and gave his boss a questioning look. "The Chamberlain case. About the child who vanished at the campground. I know we're not on active duty but I thought that we'll have to interview a couple of people and I think we need to… take… a," Tony's voice trailed off as it seemed that Gibbs had stopped listening.

Gibbs nodded. "Do what you have to do, DiNozzo," he said after a pause. "Get that sorted out. Get outta here," he barked.

Tony grabbed his gear and walked towards the elevator with Ziva and McGee in tow. The three of them turned around to see that Gibbs hadn't moved. "McGee you're staying here with me," Gibbs ordered. "Do you lot have a problem with following my orders now? Get outta here and McGee you stay here!" Gibbs shouted.

Tony and Ziva made their way to the elevator. "Gee, I wonder if he got off on the wrong bed this morning," Ziva wondered out loud.

"I think you mean out of the wrong side of the bed, Ziva," Tony halfheartedly corrected her English. "Perhaps his personal business didn't go as well as planned," Tony stated the obvious. He felt bad that McGee was there to take the full brunt of Gibbs' mood while they weren't there. The uneasy feeling returned. Something felt very, very wrong.

"McGee," Gibbs barked across the bullpen. "I need you teach me some of that stuff you do with the computer," he said.

"What do you need to know," McGee asked him curiously. He'd never asked for a computer lesson before.

"I need to access the file department so I can transfer a couple of files to another computer," Gibbs explained what he wanted done.

"Sure," McGee began showing him things. "You can use your email account to pass on the files," he said.

"How about if I don't want to use my work email?" Gibbs asked him.

"Well you can easily create a free email account by downloading and installing yahoo messenger. Then you can use that," McGee explained.

"Do I look like a tech person to you McGee?" Gibbs snarled.

"Not at all boss," McGee answered as he went to the yahoo page and began downloading the messenger. "I mean… Not that you couldn't be, I mean, if you wanted to you could," McGee began tripping over his own words as he tried to backtrack over them. "I'll install it for you now, Boss," he said as he watched, Gibbs watch him.

Gibbs rubbed his ear. "Is this going to take long McGee?" He asked impatiently as he began to fidget a little.

"Now, there you go," McGee rubbed his neck nervously. "I'll just fill out these questions for you quickly and create an email account for you," he explained the steps as he went along. "See? Now, you click on the compose button. Type the email address you wish to send it to," Gibbs rubbed his ear again and waited for McGee to continue explaining as he went along. "Of course, then you go to attach and it'll give you an option to search the computer for the file you're after," McGee said.

"That easy?" Gibbs asked. "But what if the folder I'm after is in the database?"

"Well you have to extract the folder from the database and then attach it from your computer," McGee explained.

"Can I do this from any computer?" Gibbs asked.

"Well if that computer has yahoo, you can use your name and password to access your yahoo account," McGee answered. "There," McGee said.

"Thanks McGee," Gibbs said as he cricked his neck and McGee watched him double time it up the stairs. McGee swore that he was moving at a quicker than normal pace.

* * *

_A/N: Hope this is a good beginning and keeping people guessing. This was inspired by a movie. So the idea isn't so original._

_Gibbs: Now why doesn't that surprise me?_

_Tony: Something wrong Boss?_

_Gibbs: What are you doing DiNozzo?_

_Tony: Sitting back with my feet up, relaxing my feet and enjoying somebody else copping the author's wrath for a change._


	2. Chapter 2

**FORCED Chapter 2**

McGee was alone in the bullpen and unsure of what to do. It had been some time since Gibbs had disappeared upstairs. His behavior was odd to say the least. But what could McGee do about it? He typed at his computer for a couple of minutes and kept eying the landing. Maybe if he went up there and spoke to Gibbs, perhaps he could find out what's bugging him.

McGee walked cautiously up to Vance's office. That's where he had deduced that Gibbs had gotten to. "Hi Cynthia," he gave her a halfhearted smile. "Is Gibbs in there? He asked the secretary.

"Yes he is," Cynthia answered.

McGee nodded and knocked on the door but received no answer. He opened it slowly and walked in. Gibbs was staring intently at the computer screen while he tried to make the mouse work in his favor. "Hey, Boss?" McGee was extremely cautious in how he approached the older man. He received no response. "I just wanted to uh, see if you needed anything," he said to the man who didn't act like he was listening. "Boss," he pressed again.

"I heard you the first time, McGee!" Gibbs snapped as he ran a hand through his hair and played with his earlobe before nodding. McGee saw him mouth something. "Get out of here and just leave me to do this," Gibbs started to get edgy.

"It was just, you know," McGee was cut short by a Gibbs' death glare. "If you needed help you would have asked," he continued.

"Get outta here and get some work done, McGee," Gibbs said impatiently. He didn't hide his annoyance at the young man. "Now McGee!" He said with complete impatience.

McGee closed the door behind him. There wasn't anything he could do. Maybe Ducky knew what was going on. After all, Ducky was Gibbs' confidant. Together, they'd be able to find out what's been happening. But he felt the sudden urge to see Abby first.

-----------

_**THE LAB**_

Abby worked tirelessly away at her computer and her face lit up when a large cup of Caf-Pow was placed near her hand. "Thanks Gibbs," Abby said without turning around. She then saw McGee's reflection in the computer monitor. "You're not Gibbs, McGee. How dare you pretend to be Gibbs?" She asked. "Where is he?"

"He's in the Director's office," McGee watched Abby work away. "Has Gibbs ever asked you to teach him about computers?" He asked eventually.

Abby's fingers stopped in mid stroke. That sounded hinky with in itself. "No, boss-man has never asked for computer lessons. Has he asked you?" Abby turned around and looked at him suspiciously.

"Today," McGee confirmed it. It felt really weird that his boss openly asked for the quick lesson and then got really snappy. "Did he say anything to you yesterday?" He asked her.

"No," Abby answered as she tried to remember everything her boss had told her yesterday. Gibbs had been acting kind of normal all day. The only difference was him leaving early. Even though that was unusual it wasn't unheard of. "What's Ziva and Tony thinking?" She asked.

"They're out in the field interviewing a couple of witnesses and canvassing a campground for the Chamberlain case," McGee said. With the way Gibbs was snapping like Jaws, he'd rather be out in the field with the others. "Unfortunately, Gibbs wanted me to show him how to email," McGee said to her.

"Gibbs emailing?" Abby scoffed. "That's ridiculous," she said.

"I know Abs," McGee responded. "Then he went into Vance's office for privacy."

"That doesn't sound good. If Vance finds out, there'd be hell to pay," she said seriously. This was not turning out to be a good day," she added solemnly. Clearly, something was amiss.

* * *

Gibbs had sent everything to his workstation and headed down to autopsy with deliberate pace. At least with Ziva and Tony out of the way, there were two prying eyes he had gotten rid of. Now if he could find a way to keep McGee busy. "You know, it would have been easier if you targeted McGee," Gibbs could be heard muttering as he went down to autopsy.

Ducky pushed the occupied slab back into it's container and was about to speak to palmer when he turned around and noticed that Gibbs had already entered the room in his usual silent manner. "Hey, Duck," Gibbs hardly moved from the spot. "I need to have a look at the Autopsy reports of the Virginia murders from last year. You know the three bodies found in that shallow grave?" Gibbs asked as he followed Ducky into the filing room.

"Sure, right here," Ducky said as he fingered through the manila folders. "There you go Jethro," he handed it over.

"Are there any other copies?" Gibbs asked. "I want the team to look over them," he had seen the questioning look in the ME's eyes.

"That is the only hardcopy made, Jethro," Ducky answered.

"Thanks Duck," Gibbs said as he left autopsy quickly. Ducky shrugged his shoulders as he watched his friend leave. He'd assumed that case had been closed and was slightly surprised to see Gibbs wanting the file and any other copies of it.

------------------

_**In The Field**_

Tony had taped the area off at the campground. They had begun widening the search when his twentieth century fox ringtone went off. "Tony DiNozzo," he immediately put the phone to his ear. "What is it Probie?" Tony kept an eye on the ground where he was walking. It was to keep an eye out for disturbed ground.

"I'm ringing up about Gibbs," McGee's worried voice came through the cell. "He actually asked me to teach him how to email and attach files and send them," he answered.

"Seriously… You're ringing me up to tell me Gibbs has gone hi-tech?" Tony laughed at this. It sounded as though McGee was really serious.

"That's not all. He was in Vance's chair using Vance's computer," McGee said. "And he's really snappy," McGee blurted out in one breath.

Tony rubbed his forehead as if he was stimulating his brain into gear. "Did he say anything to you?" Tony didn't have to wait for a response. "Ziva, pack up. McTrouble is in the doghouse and wants us to bail him out," he smirked.

"McGee is in prison?" Ziva asked with a confused look.

"No… That's bighouse Ziva," Tony closed the cell. "He's done something to piss Gibbs off or something like that. We can come back tomorrow," he said as he checked his watch. It's going to be late by the time we get back to base," Tony told her. "Come on," he said.

----------------

_**NCIS HQ**_

Gibbs picked up a whole lot of files in his arms and put the manila folder labeled Virginia Triple Homicide Autopsy on top. It was almost too much of a pile for him to carry. He only just managed to press the button on the elevator without dropping everything.

"Palmer," Gibbs could here Palmer offering to carry some of the folders. "I'm in a rush. Here's the reports I've been looking over for the last case… I want you to give them to Ducky to check over," he placed a couple of folders in Palmer's waiting arms. "These are from a couple of other teams and here's the Autopsy report I got earlier," Gibbs said in a rush. "Have you got them?" He asked the ME's assistant.

"Yes," Palmer answered a little unsteadily. He went to turn around and head straight back to autopsy to file the files. Unfortunately he tripped over something and all the folders spilled their contents all in front of him. Palmer cursed his feet. "I'm sorry, sir," Palmer said. "I'll get this mess cleaned up ASAP," he couldn't really fathom how it happened.

"Make sure you do," Gibbs snapped angrily. "I'm sure you're very busy," he added as he stepped into the elevator.

"Yes sir," Palmer responded as he mentally kicked himself.

As soon as the elevator doors closed he punched it's wall as hard as he could. The pain meant nothing to him. When he arrived back in the bullpen, he fished out some papers he hid in his draw and shoved down his jacket quickly before leaving the NCIS building.

* * *

Tony: Ha-ha haha ha. I'm so glad I'm not getting hurt in this one.

(Gibbs headslaps Tony)

Tony: Hey!

Gibbs: Keep it up… I'm sure the author is saving something special for you

Tony: Well doesn't mean I can't enjoy this for now.


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

FORCED Chapter 3

McGee waited in the bullpen. He was unsure as what to do next since Gibbs had mysteriously disappeared from the building. He'd left without saying a word to anyone. There was an eerie silence until Abby's voice broke it. She walked up to the agent who was standing very still with his mouth agape.

"Have you seen Gibbs, McGee?" Abby had wondered why she hadn't seen her Boss-man all day. There was something hinky but without seeing him she couldn't press him for the details. She stood next to McGee.

"He's apparently left early," McGee checked his watch. It was just past fifteen hundred. Seemed that Gibbs had left earlier than yesterday. This time was different since he hadn't uttered a word.

Tony walked briskly into the bullpen with Ziva in tow. "This better be important Probie," Tony sounded impatient. He had hoped that McGee hadn't wasted their time and dragged them back. McGee had been known to overreact on occasion. "Hey, Abs," Tony greeted the forensic scientist.

"Hey Tony," Abby returned the greeting. "I'm sorry, but I tend to agree with McGee. There's something going on with the Boss-man," she voiced that she was concerned to.

"You're sorry because you agree with me?" McGee arched an eyebrow.

"It's just Gibbs hasn't seen me all day," Abby ignored the McGee look. "And whenever he's in he makes sure to come down to my lab and see me," she said. It was shocking that Gibbs had been and gone without saying a word.

Tony thought for a moment. That was very odd. "What was Gibbs wanting to know about the computer?" Tony wanted to have this figured out.

"He wanted to access, download and send files," McGee answered simply.

"Did he tell you which one or to whom he was sending it to?" Tony asked but he already knew the answer to that. Gibbs was working on something secretive and it seemed to be affecting his relationship. Tony had been there before and it almost ended all of his relationships at once.

"No," McGee answered.

"Go and work those McNerdy fingers of yours and find out what files Gibbs was searching for," Tony said after thinking for awhile. "I want to know everything to do with that… Ziva," Tony turned around and to face her. "Get Director Vance's home number and call him up. I want to know some things," Tony waited for them to say something. "Well? Get to it," Tony barked.

"But Tony," McGee said cautiously.

"Yes… Probie?" Tony asked slowly, daring the younger man to disobey the order given.

"It's just I'll need to access the computer that Gibbs accessed," McGee stated as if it was general knowledge.

"Point Probie!" Tony was clearly annoyed.

"I'll have to access Director Vance's computer," McGee said quietly with just a hint of panic in his voice.

Tony sighed impatiently. That could be a problem. "Alright… Wait here until I speak with toothpick first," he suggested. "Whatever's going on is secretive but maybe he can shed some light on the matter," Tony continued. "Put it on speaker phone," Tony ordered Ziva. It was surprising how easy it was to fall into the team leader position without skipping a beat and he was totally surprised that nobody questioned him.

"Sir," Tony prompted as soon as Leon's voice answered the phone.

"What is it you want, Agent DiNozzo?" Director Vance's voice sounded annoyed. Tony thought it best to let it slide since the Director was sick with something.

"Is Agent Gibbs working on anything that we should know about?" Tony asked as he thought he heard something drop in the background on Vance's end. "It's just he seems to be acting very strange before and Gibbs is ignoring everyone," Tony said and winced. That didn't come out the way he meant it to sound.

"Are you ringing up to complain to me that Agent Gibbs isn't talking to you Agent DiNozzo?" Vance asked in a serious tone. "This is a federal building not a playground," he added.

Tony was use to this tone from the Director. They never saw eye to eye. "It's not that," he tried to convince everybody that he wasn't just a little hurt by Gibbs' actions. Tony shook his head, he wasn't running to the principal, this was serious.

"Sorry to snap Agent DiNozzo," Vance suddenly changed his tone. Everyone turned to face the wide eyed senior field agent. Then there was sudden silence. Tony couldn't believe what he had heard. "I forgot to leave a message at NCIS," Vance said after another bout of silence and a cough. "There's an Agent from New York who's coming over to observe the goings on," Vance explained. "I want you to offer him the same respect as you give Agent Gibbs. Do I make myself clear Agent DiNozzo?" He emphasized.

"Crystal Sir," Tony answered the last question. The other end of the phone was discontinued. Leaving them all in stunned silence. "Wait a minute!" Tony realized that Vance hadn't answered his question. It sounded like the question was evaded. "McGee, go into Vance's office and find out what Gibbs was searching for… I have a bad feeling about this," Tony pursed his lips and looked around.

"On it," McGee responded quickly as he went upstairs.

"Anthony," Ducky's voice interrupted the Senior Field Agent's train of thought. "Jethro had taken an autopsy report earlier and gave some files back to Mister Palmer. However the Autopsy report wasn't with them," Ducky said. "I was wondering if you had it since he wanted everyone to look over it," Ducky queried since Gibbs had requested the report on behalf of the team.

"What report's that? Ziva and I were out in the field," Tony looked as confused as Ducky did. "We weren't asked to look over any Autopsy reports and Gibbs had gone home awhile ago," Tony's words seemed to shock Ducky.

"Odd," Ducky replied kind of distantly. "If Mister Palmer hadn't tripped and dropped everything we would've found this sooner," he said.

"Wait… So, Gibbs handed Palmer the files and THEN Palmer tripped over?" Tony thought for a moment once Ducky nodded. A terrible picture was forming in his mind's eye. If Gibbs wanted that file secretively and wanted to delay anybody finding out that it's gone what better way than to lump a bunch of folders on someone and then trip them up. Tony shook his head violently. No way! Gibbs wouldn't do that.

"Anthony?" Ducky noticed the expression on Tony's face change.

"We'll sort this out Ducky," Tony answered absently. It would've been unfair to anyone to voice what he was thinking. "What was the report?" Tony asked.

"Virginia Triple Homicide," Ducky answered.

Tony's mind wondered again. He wasn't all too familiar with the case and couldn't think of a reason why Gibbs would be interested in it. For all he knew was that it was part of an investigation run by the proactive team. "I'll drop by his house now," Tony told them. "Ziva, you go and see how McGeek's going up there," he ordered her.

* * *

**DIRECTOR VANCE'S OFFICE**

McGee sat in the Director's chair had begun accessing the search results. He cursed as it was obvious that Vance didn't believe in deleting the Database Search history. That meant that he had to go through more useless information searches. After another pointless one he sat back in the chair and thought for a moment before trying again.

_**CASE NOT FOUND!**_ Big red letters screamed at him. McGee struck the desk in frustration. The last couple of searches he tried had come up with the same thing.

"Is everything alright, McGee?" Ziva entered the office and peered over her shoulder.

**URGENT: **IM message from Director Leon Vance

McGee hesitated at whether or not to open the IM from the director. Curiosity was always a dangerous thing… But he ignored that internal voice that was telling him to leave it alone. Suddenly, the computer became non responsive.

"What happened?" Ziva asked.

"It's crashed the computer!" McGee entered panic mode.

**SYSTEM SHUTTING DOWN! WARNING, do not turn off computer. This will take a couple of hours! **The words flashed on the screen.

"Oh man, I'm a dead man," McGee rubbed his eyes anxiously. He waited for the computer to reboot. "What the hell happened?" He sat back and waited.

"That is not good," Ziva confirmed McGee's worries.

* * *

**JETHRO GIBBS RESIDENCE**

The sun was just going down when Tony tried the doorknob to Gibbs' house. He was shocked to find that Gibbs' front door was locked. Even though, Gibbs always had his door unlocked, Tony had a spare key in the inside of his jacket. He used it to enter the house.

"Ah, boss!" Tony shouted out as he began entering the basement.

"What are you doing here, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked as he watched his agent descend the stairs. His eyes darted to a darker corner of the room.

"I was wondering if you're ok? You been off lately and going home early," Tony looked around. He was shocked to see dark haired man walk into the light and fold his arms. "Oh, I see you have company," Tony said.

"What brings you here?" Gibbs asked as he was clearly annoyed.

"Duck said you didn't return a report," Tony explained his reason for being there. He watched the dark haired man walk in front of Gibbs then back again as if he was pacing. His Boss's eyes lowered before he responded.

"That's none of your business, DiNozzo," Gibbs replied with a sense of urgency.

"It is since you involved the team. If you're going to deceive Ducky at least clue your team so we know to cover for you," Tony replied coldly.

The man cleared his throat and leaned against the table near the tools. "Get out of here, DiNozzo," Gibbs told him. "And if you ever come to my basement like this again and accuse me of something like this again. I'll have your gun," Gibbs warned him dangerously. "Give me your spare key," he said.

"But, Boss," Tony watched the other man approach them again. "It's just," he began to say.

"Don't defy me DiNozzo!" Gibbs shouted. "Give me the spare key now," he held out his hand until Tony reluctantly placed the key into the waiting hands. "Don't you dare come in here uninvited again," he warned Tony.

"Boss. I don't know what you're going through but the team's willing to help you with whatever's going on," Tony persisted.

"Tell them to leave it the hell alone and do their jobs," Gibbs snapped furiously. "And make sure you do yours."

Tony wasn't ready to leave. The man walked around to stand beside Gibbs again with his hands on his hips. "We know you're going through something," Tony began to say but was interrupted by an angry and impatient sigh by the dark haired man as he reached his hands around to his back…

TBC

* * *

Tony: This story sounds serious... I think I like funny ones better

Fictionnaire: Don't know what you're complaining for Tony

Tony: It looks as if I'm about to get hurt physically

Fictionnaire: Would I do that to you Tony?

Abby, McGee, Ziva and Gibbs: Yes!

Fictionnaire: Oh you're hurting my feelings.


	4. Chapter 4

_**FORCED 4**_

_**A/N: Thank you for all the kind reviews that may not last longer. I know you're all dying to know what's the problem with Gibbs. I know people will enjoy things coming up for –**_

_**(Gibbs headslaps Fictionnaire)**_

_**Fictionnaire: Getting on with the story boss**_

_**Tony: At least I'm getting off lightly**_

_**Fictionnaire: Story ain't over yet Tony.**_

_**Abby: That's great. I'm really loving the intense confrontation with this story. Hope there's lots more action coming up. Don't like slow moving stories unless there's a romance in it. Is this going to be romance… Huh? Tell me, is it?**_

_**Fictionnaire blinks several times: Ah, no.**_

_**Abby: Come on just a little hint of one… (Turns on begging eyes)**_

_**Fictionnaire: Alright… How about Ziva and Faith Coleman? I heard Ziva has a lot of faith.**_

_**(Ziva gets that deadly look in her eyes and Fictionnaire runs)**_

* * *

Gibbs held his breath for an eternity. This action didn't go unnoticed by his senior field agent. At times, Gibbs cursed the very investigative skills that he admired in the younger man. The man next to him adjusted his shirt and waited while boring a whole into Tony with his narrow eyes.

"Fine," Tony hissed. There was something going on, but Tony couldn't find out what while standing this close. "I'll see you when you're at work Leroy," he saw Gibbs eyes narrow momentarily but he remained silent. Gibbs hated people using his first name even more than being called Sir. Something was definitely amiss.

Tony looked at them both before leaving. He wanted to get a close look at the person who was in Gibbs' basement without antagonizing the situation. It seemed that his boss was already on edge enough as it was. Tony drove to his place at a speed that Gibbs would have been proud of. He had only managed to unlock the door in time to go rushing into his apartment. There was nothing else on his mind except to sketch the man he'd seen as accurately as possible.

Try as he might, Tony could never get the eyes right when drawing. He checked the time and it was getting late. He wondered if it would be possible to convince Abby to meet him at NCIS and go through the facial reconstruction program. His watch read ten thirty and decided against that but would get in there early and start the search with her.

The ringing of his cell startled him out of concentration. He looked at the name on the small screen. "What is it McGee?" Tony asked in a tired tone.

"How did you know it was me?" McGee's voice sounded surprised and tired.

"Oh, gee Probie. I think my sixth sense has kicked in," Tony answered sarcastically. "What do you think? What is it Probie?" Tony asked

"Uh, yeah right," McGee responded. "We have a major problem," his voice sounded a little shaky and Tony rubbed his face in anticipation and annoyance.

"What is it McGee?" Tony asked. The conversation had quickly turned into a troublesome tone.

"When I was accessing the NCIS records database from Vance's terminal to find out the search options, a separate program had been activated and…" McGee began his longwinded explanation but was interrupted by the sound of Tony tapping the phone against his forehead in frustration.

"In English McGee," Tony said impatiently. "We're not all as technically advanced as you are," he tried to keep the anger out of his voice but he was losing the fight.

"Oh right, yeah," McGee stumbled over his words. "About that… When I was trying to find the file that Gibbs was after… Another program was activated and it contained a kill switch," McGee said.

Tony sighed and rolled his eyes. McGee and Tony's version of English would never be the same. "Probie," he warned dangerously.

"Well searching the database from Vance's terminal flicked the switch and it wiped everything off the hard drive," McGee explained.

_Shit!_ "How'd the 'kill switch' get onto Vance's computer? Had it always been there?" Tony asked. "And can the information be retrieved?" He hoped for a positive response.

There was a long pause on the other end. "I believe that the program had been installed and tagged to the database earlier," there was an even longer pause on McGee's end. "I doubt that Director Vance would have had it on. There's only one plausible suspect in this case," he cut himself off. McGee didn't want to say it.

"I don't think Gibbs has ever installed anything onto a computer in his life," Tony commented. "In fact I don't think he even knows that you have to install programs onto a computer," he added.

"Unless someone was walking him through it," McGee suggested. "Someone might have shown him how to do it," he added.

"Why?" Tony asked. It just all sounded too stupid to him. Imagine someone picking Gibbs to carry on these tasks. "Did you manage to get anything on what Gibbs was looking for?" Tony asked hopefully.

"I went through the recent search history from the computer but no results came up," McGee said cautiously. It seemed that Tony was annoyed enough as it was.

"Damn," Tony cursed openly. "You sound tired. Take the computer down to the lab and get home. I'll meet you in Abby's lab first thing," Tony took command.

"Gotcha," McGee responded and ended the conversation.

* * *

_**Abby's Lab: 0645**_

Abby, McGee and Ziva had waited impatiently for Tony to come. They'd gotten there especially early. He finally arrived with a coffee in hand. "Morning everybody," he said with a high level of enthusiasm. "Abs, I want you to run this sketch through and see if this man's face pops up in anyone's database," he continued on the same pace. "Now, if it does… I want a BOLO put out… McGee I want you to work your McMagic and get what you can out of this tower," he pointed to Vance's computer which was sitting on the table by itself.

"Hey, Tony," Ziva got Tony's attention.

"What?" Tony asked.

"How many damn coffee's have you had this morning?" She asked out of curiosity. "You seem extremely wired," Ziva checked him over.

"Yeah, I'm a little wired," Tony confirmed. McGee snorted. "Something tickle your tickle your McFunny bone McGiggles?" Tony asked. He couldn't figure out what McGee could be laughing at.

"Nothing," McGee tried to act dismissive.

"Spit it out, McGee," Abby wanted to know the joke.

"It's just a stupid quote," McGee said as he tried to back out of it. All eyes were impatiently waiting on him. McGee coughed once before continuing. "You know I'm really wired. What do you say I take you home and eat your pussy," he said.

Tony raised an eyebrow. "What the hell?" He asked.

"Just a line said by John Borrowman," McGee's face turned from red back to normal.

Tony shook his head and left the lab with Ziva in tow. Abby swung around and punched McGee in the arm. "Whenever Tony goes to team leader, you always take on his personality," she couldn't help but smile.

"I do not," McGee defended himself. "It's just that him being wired reminded me of a John Borrowman line," he shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, like Tony," Abby responded quickly. "And careful I'm beginning to think you have a thing for John," she turned back to her computer. "You do know he's gay right?" McGee didn't see the big smile plastered across her face.

* * *

_**NCIS bullpen**_

Tony sat on the edge of Ziva's desk as they discussed the possible cases that Gibbs could have been after. "Well, I know it has to do with triple homicide," Tony stated. "Perhaps if we get any evidence out of storage," he suggested. His words were cut off by Ziva clearing her throat. Tony turned around to see Gibbs striding in, flanked by a young blonde haired male.

"Who is that?" Ziva asked as she stood up.

"Must be that Agent that Toothpick mentioned," Tony said quietly so that nobody else could hear. "Wonder what's so important that he's visiting here," he stood to his feet to await orders.

Abby rushed into the bullpen at her usual pace. She stopped in front of Tony and watched Gibbs and the New York Agent approach. "Just letting you know that everything is well under way," she said as Tony tried desperately to shush her. Abby eyed the visiting agent suspiciously.

"I'm Agent Joshua Spencer," the man reached out with his hand. "You must be Agent DiNozzo, Officer David and Abigail right?" Joshua said with a warm smile.

They all shook hands. Abby was reluctant and watched the agent walk to the other side of the bullpen and he talked intently with Gibbs. Occasionally, Gibbs would look in their direction and shake his head. The two went into a more secluded area. Abby felt an immediate distrust to Joshua and the young man just came across as hinky.

Several minutes later, Gibbs walked back into the bullpen without taking his eyes off Abby. His lips were pursed together as he approached her. Ziva and Tony watched in anticipation.

Gibbs knew he was going to hate himself for this. It had to be done. He was working on higher orders now. "Boss-man?" Abby felt the tension radiating from him.

Gibbs held his hand up to stop her from talking. "This isn't the first time this has come up Abigail. This Agent Spencer is high up in the New York FBI. I'm sure that you all have been told to offer him respect," Gibbs could feel his body shaking as he could hear himself speaking the next few words. "You're fired Abigail. Collect your things and leave," he said.

Everyone stood in stunned silence. Had they heard Gibbs correctly? Surely they couldn't have. "Boss?" Tony asked.

"You've been making people feel uncomfortable. It ends here… Pack up your fucking stuff and get out of the building before I call security," Gibbs spat out. "You have a problem with DiNozzo and Ziva? I can fire you two as well. Don't you ever think you're irreplaceable Tony because everybody can be replaced. What are you standing around for Abigail?" Gibbs asked. He turned around since he wasn't able to see the heartbroken face of his Forensic Scientist.

"Boss?" Tony asked in an extremely nervous tone.

Gibbs turned around and eyeballed him. "What?!" He snapped.

"Ziva and I have to gather some information about…" Tony was interrupted by the stare.

"Take McGee and do what you need to do," Gibbs answered.

Tony and Ziva watched Gibbs and the visiting agent leave the area. "McGee," Tony said into his cell after dialing his number. "Get to MTAC urgently," Tony ordered him with full urgency.

"Tony…" McGee had begun to question.

"MTAC now. Drop everything and get your ass into MTAC right now. Ignore EVERYTHING else," Tony ordered as he made his way up the stairs. He had heard this being done a few times and he hoped that it would work. With Vance being off sick and Gibbs seemingly taking charge but acting the way he is. Tony knew there was really only one course of action to take.

* * *

_**NCIS MTAC**_

"What is it, Tony?" McGee wondered what was so urgent once they met outside MTAC.

"We're going to do something major here. I'm going to need help doing it," Tony's eyes darted around to make sure that nobody else was listening in. "But this is like, above anything we've done. It could be dangerous and I want to make sure you understand that before I ask this… We're going to stand Gibbs down," Tony said. "I need backup."

"I am in," Ziva didn't have to think twice. The Gibbs in the bullpen couldn't have been Gibbs. "Gibbs would never have spoken to Abby like that," she added. McGee looked at her quizzically. "Gibbs said that she was fired and told her to pack her stuff and get out while using very colorful language," she said.

"What?!" McGee asked. Gibbs would never do that. "Ok," he said.

"Good. Now, I want you to delete Gibbs' codes off the system. I don't care how. Can you do it McGee?" Tony asked as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"How do you think you turned up dead on the system that one time," McGee smiled.

Tony gave him a quick stare. He did see the funny side of it though. "Alright, do what you do McGee," Tony said as he pressed his eyes near in front of the retinal scanner which allowed them to enter MTAC.

"Get me the CIA and Homeland Security on screen," Tony barked out the orders as soon as he entered. McGee sat down at a terminal in the dark corner. He didn't have to wait long until the feed was up. "Now, there's a face I haven't seen in a long time," Tony allowed a moment to joke.

The tall man on the left side of the screen turned around. "Long time no see Agent DiNozzo," Tom Morrow said. "What can I do for NCIS?" He asked.

"Director Morrow Sir," Tony said and then looked at the other. "Director Richards… I know this is highly unorthodox," he fought to make sure that his words were coming out right. "We have an issue here. I need for you to revoke Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs' security clearance. He's been compromised. I'm not sure how or why but we are going to get to the bottom of this," Tony said.

There was stunned silence between the two men on screen. "We'll get it done," Director Richards said. His picture went off, leaving just Tom on the big screen.

"Is there something I should know… Or this department should know about?" Tom asked. There was still some concern over Gibbs.

"We don't know any specifics yet," Tony said and the transmission was ended. He breathed a sigh of relief and checked his watch. It was only quarter to eight and it felt like it's been a full day already. "That was the easy part," Tony muttered to himself. "Ziva with me," he looked over at McGee who was still typing away. "McGee. When you're done… Meet us in the bullpen. I can imagine Gibbs is going to be royally pissed," he muttered under his breath.

* * *

**McGee, Gibbs, Tony, Abby and Ziva are sitting on the chairs with arms folded.**

**Fictionnaire: What? Are you lot really that upset? I brought a coffee machine that gives tea… Caf Pow, hazelnut creamer… **

**(Still silence)**

**Fictionnaire: Well ok… I'll just talk to myself and the coffee machine. Hello coffee machine. How are you today?**


	5. Chapter 5

**FORCED 5: **

**Fictionnaire's voice is heard but he isn't seen: "I'm so happy that people enjoyed last chapter… I was afraid that you all would have stopped reading because Gibbs fired and swore at Abby."**

**(His head pops up and looks around before ducking back into hiding)**

**Fictionnaire: "Sh. Ziva's pissed at me and bloody hell, Gibbs is on the warpath and I'm sure the coffee machine's been talking about me and Tony's been waiting to get his hands on me."**

**Tony: "Part of me is enjoying this story."**

**Gibbs slaps Tony on the back of the head: "That makes one of us."**

**Abby is sitting in the corner sulking: "I miss NCIS already. I want to be back at work"**

**Tony: "I want Magnum's red Ferrari but we can't have what we want"**

**Fictionnaire: "I can make it happen… But y'all have to stop coming after me"**

**(Tony, Abby and Gibbs look at each other then at where the voice is coming from)**

**Abby: "Alright, come out and play and we'll be nice"**

* * *

"Now where the real fun begins," Tony said with a half-assed attempt at a smile. Ziva looked at him. She knew that things had to be stressful for him especially when it was obvious that he was going to confront his mentor.

"You do not want to take a breather first?" Ziva asked Tony.

"The quicker we deal with this. The quicker we can get to the bottom of it," Tony simply answered. He couldn't understand the concern to him that Ziva was openly showing. "Let's just get this over and done with," he told her.

"Alright Tony," Ziva responded with a shrug.

The sound of Gibbs striking his desk sounded like a gunshot because it was so loud. That made it even more nerve racking to enter the bullpen. "Damn it," Gibbs cursed loudly as he saw Tony approach him.

Tony nodded to the FBI agent as way of a casual greeting. "Is there something wrong, Boss?" Part of him wanted to play the idiot. Unfortunately, if he did that, the others would probably be shoved in the firing line.

"My access has been denied," Gibbs answered. "Get McGee down here and get him to sort out this problem," he ordered. His face was fuming.

"I can't do that," Tony could feel his heart pounding against his chest in complete fear. Maybe he could back out of it by undoing what he had set in motion. Perhaps he'd acted too hastily. He ran both of his hands through his head. No, deep down, Tony knew he had done the correct thing. "Your security has been revoked," the commanding order came out as a shaky 'if that's ok with you' type order.

Gibbs turned to Joshua and back to Tony. "My office… Now!" Gibbs shouted into Tony's ear. He motioned for the visitor to stay there and he pointed to his ear. The man sat in his chair and carefully watched Ziva.

"What's this about?" Joshua asked as he began intently playing with his phone.

If the man was trying to intimidate Ziva it was clearly not working. Ziva just shrugged her shoulders without taking her eyes off the elevator doors. She knew that the elevator was stuck in between floors and the realization had hit her… She should've gone with her partner. Ziva promised to back him up and now Tony was now on his own at the mercy of the Boss. It all happened too quickly and Gibbs' voice was dangerously calm.

* * *

_**NCIS ELEVATOR**_

Gibbs punched the elevator emergency stop button with ferocity. Tony looked at the doors and then at his boss. The heart began beating faster again. He realized that the time had come and that his actions had caused the severing of the relationship he had with Gibbs. For awhile neither of them spoke.

"You don't realize what you've done," Gibbs said dangerously as he shoved Tony. Tony steadied himself and licked his lips. That course of action hadn't surprised him one bit. Again, Tony was pushed off balance. "You screwed up. Your actions probably have gotten someone killed. You happy?" Gibbs said as he shoved Tony harder.

Tony wasn't sure what Gibbs was saying but he could sense the tension in his body rising after each shove. The natural instinct was to fight back in defense but this was his boss. The final push was it. The instincts took over and Tony fisted Gibbs' jacket and shoved him against the wall.

"Is that all you got?" Gibbs asked as it seemed that he was attempting to provoke the Senior Field Agent. "I thought you had more in you," Gibbs said to him. "Of all the times I trained you in the gym. This is the best you got? You're weak," He asked.

"You want more?" Tony thought back to Gibbs firing Abby and to every single time that Gibbs had made him feel like staying was a mistake. He also thought of his own screw ups. Tony threw Gibbs up against the wall and held him there while he lashed out with punches. He was going to get as many as he can in before Gibbs decided to come out with all gun's blazing.

"Argh," Gibbs winced in pain as the sound of high pitched static penetrated his ear. He tried to get the young man to stop since the punches had the desired effect… The communication device near his ear had been damaged. "Wait, DiNozzo," Gibbs said to him.

Tony stopped mid punch and looked on in confusion. "What?" Tony asked as the elevator roared back to life.

"We don't have much time," Gibbs said to Tony. "Thanks to your actions. Go and see Director Vance at his place," he offered some advice. "But be careful."

"What's this about?" Tony asked as the elevator doors dinged open.

There was no answer as Gibbs went into the bullpen and intently talked with Joshua in an animated session. "Ziva," Tony motioned for her to come over to his direction. He couldn't believe that he was shaking. The adrenaline was definitely pumping through his system. "Come with me," he ordered.

"Where are we going?" Ziva asked.

"We're off to see the Toothpick," Tony answered as he reached for his cell. "McGee… I need you to run a thorough check on Agent Joshua Spencer," Tony gave the order clearly so that McGee would understand.

"Sure thing… How'd Gibbs take being shut out?" McGee asked.

"Just dandy Probie," Tony answered while shaking his head. That was such a stupid question. "Don't try calling Ziva or me McGee. We'll call you as soon as we can," Tony told him without giving anything away. The last thing he needed was to put another person in the middle of possible danger.

* * *

_**Director Leon Vance's Residence**_

Ziva slapped Tony in the arm as they pulled up in front of Vance's large house. Tony snapped to attention. "What?" He asked as he slightly rubbed his arm and feigned to be in physical pain. "That hurt Ziva," he said.

"You were sleeping Tony," Ziva said as she got out of the car. "I am surprised that you slept while I drove and frankly your snoring was getting irritating," she added.

"Very funny, Ziva," Tony adjusted his tie and studied his reflection in the side mirror. He looked a little tired but he was glad that somehow he'd been able to catch a small nap in the car. However there was work that needed to be done. "Let's get this out of the way," Tony said.

"Get what out of the way exactly?" Tony still hadn't told Ziva why they were here. She was beginning to believe that Tony had no idea either. But like the dutiful partner she blindly followed the order.

"Gibbs had told me to see Toothpick," Tony answered as they approached the door. "Didn't get a real chance to elaborate," he knocked on the door loudly and waited for an answer. Tony wondered how Vance was connected to Gibbs' recent behavior. Any involvement wouldn't surprise him.

"What are you doing here?" Vance said without even bothering to hide his annoyance. The animosity between the two men clearly showed.

"Well merry Christmas to you to Santa," Tony just couldn't help himself. Antagonizing Vance had become his new hobby. It was to teach the guy a damn lesson for sending him as an Agent Afloat. "Gibbs told me to come and see you," Tony stated the reason for him being there.

Reluctantly, Vance allowed Ziva and Tony into the house and were lead straight into the study. "What is this about Agent DiNozzo and Officer David?" Vance asked as his wife came in to offer some tea.

"No thanks," Tony answered the woman. "Is Gibbs working on an operation at the moment that we should know about?" Tony felt strange about going to the Director for information.

"His behavior has been somewhat strained sir," Ziva elaborated.

"Agent Gibbs is working in accordance with my orders," Vance told them.

"Does that include firing Abby?" Tony asked skeptically. Abby was the best forensic scientist they had. Vance couldn't possibly have a valid reason for getting rid of her. The news seemed to come as a shock.

"Hang on a second. I have some friends here, I'm just going to tell them that the poker game's going to be delayed," Vance stood up and left the study.

"He does not look very sick," Ziva leaned over and whispered into Tony's ear. His eyes narrowed and he nodded silently before they were greeted by a young girl. She was curious about the people her father worked with.

"What is your name?" Ziva asked the little girl with straight hair.

"Lily," Lily answered with a giggle.

"That's a cute name," Tony commented. "We're just waiting for your father to come back from talking to his friends," he noted the girl's demeanor change.

"They're not daddy's friends," Lily said. "They're mean people. They yell and threaten," she continued.

Ziva and Tony shot each other quick glances. "How many are there?" Ziva went for the direct approach.

"Five, but one of them is not here," She answered without thinking twice.

"Where did he go?" Tony asked Lily.

"He went out with Mister Gibbs," Lily answered.

"Enough!" Vance shouted. "You two never question any of my family again or the consequences will be dire," he warned his agents once Lily had left the room. "Now leave," he told the two.

"Go to Abs," Tony said to Ziva as he pulled his phone out and began to dial.

"What's there?" Ziva asked. When Tony went on a roll it was hard to keep up with the thinking.

"Well, something's going on. I can safely bet that," Tony stopped himself from continuing on. Thoughts were going in and out of his head at a fast pace. "Well… you know, just wait till we get back to base… McGee," Tony spoke into the phone.

"Tony… I was running Joshua Spencer's name through the database…" McGee responded quickly.

"Let me guess… He's not FBI. Get his photo and run him through the facial recognition system and see if he comes up," Tony checked his watch. "Don't do it yet. I'll call you when we're on our way back," he said. Tony didn't want things going south and risking anybody unnecessarily.

"Where are you two headed?" McGee asked.

"Are Gibbs and Joshua still in the building?" Tony asked him.

"I'm not sure," was the unwanted answer.

"Not good enough!" Tony snapped. "Find out if they are there… Monitor them. Make sure they don't go anywhere without you knowing about it," he thought for a moment. "Just watch yourself McGee," Tony made sure to tell him.

"I didn't know you cared," McGee responded lightly.

Tony scoffed and snapped the phone shut and laid his head back. He wondered if McGee would be ok. If Gibbs would be safe. His mind also drifted to Abby and hoped that she'd understand the complicated situation, one that he had problems wrapping his head around. The jumbled thoughts were slowly coming together. Tony stifled back a yawn as he fidgeted in the seat.

"Did you sleep last night Tony?" Ziva asked.

"Of course I did… I'll have plenty of time to sleep when I'm dead," Tony smirked.

* * *

_**A/N: Hope things are becoming clearer. They are to me, but then again I know of most things in my head… But not all. LOL.**_

_(Tony wheels the watercooler into the interrogation room)_

_Gibbs: Where is Fictionnaire! I want answers…_

_GLUB! GLUB!_

_Gibbs: Don't play dumb with me…_

_GLUB!_

_Gibbs: Because they don't call it scuttlebutt for the hell of it. You know everything._

_GLUB! GLUB?_

_Gibbs: How dare you say that? You want me to pull the plug… I want a name. Who knows where Fictionnaire is?_

_GLUBGLUB GLUUUUB!_

_Gibbs: If I find out you're lying to me… I'll open you up till you bleed out._


	6. Chapter 6

FORCED!

_**Gibbs stands up on the roof: Don't do it! Don't jump… You have so much to live for. DiNozzo, I need you up here.**_

_**Tony: Come on buddy. I can call your family. No family? All your brothers have been gone. Look I know that you feel that your brothers have been plucked away from you, but jumping isn't going to solve anything.**_

_**Ziva: Poor thing. Come on, get you down and we can talk about it… All of us.**_

_**(Everyone nods enthusiastically)**_

_**Abby: Yeah we'll all sit down and have chicken and just talk like friends.**_

_**Gibbs: Hear that?.**_

_**(A feather flies off the roof and begins it's slow descent)**_

_**Everyone: Noooooo!**_

_**Tony: I can go and save it… I'll run down quickly.**_

_**Gibbs: Forget it Tony… The feather's gone. It wanted it that way.**_

_**A/N: Movie/TV Mentions – Falling Down, Blackhawk Down, Felix The Cat**_

Abby was straight to the door when she heard the car pull up the driveway. She put down the application forms and waited to see who it was. Of course, she didn't want to work anywhere else but there was no choice. She had to eat, she had bills to pay. Tony and Ziva stepped out of the car and knocked on her front door.

She allowed them to enter. "Hey Abs," Tony greeted.

"Hi Tony," Abby's voice sounded subdued. It was clear that she was still upset over what had transpired.

Ziva noted the application forms on the dining room table. Abby was never one to sit idly by. "Abby, we need to talk," Tony waited for her to take a seat. The papers didn't go unnoticed by him as well.

"What is it?" Abby asked. She could understand why they had come around to see her but the reason for everything was still unclear.

"We need you to help us set up video feed on Vance's house," Tony explained. "There's something going on there," he added.

"Haven't you heard… I'm sacked, fired, kicked off the team," Abby said sadly. She still couldn't believe it deep down.

"Did Vance fire you?" Tony asked suddenly. "Last time I checked… Boss wasn't the Big Boss," he told her. "You're not fired until he says you're fired," it was now time to really lay things on the table. "Gibbs is being forced to do what he's doing for a reason," Tony said. Things were beginning to click into place.

"Really?" Abby dared to hope.

"Yes… Chuck those apps Abs," Tony smiled. "Toothpick's family is being held hostage and I'm damn sure that Gibbs is complying with them so that the family isn't hurt," Tony explained the situation. "That Joshua Spencer guy that's with Gibbs isn't with FBI. McGee's finding out about him. We need to get you back to NCIS… Covertly," Tony said.

"I've just the outfit," Abby smiled.

Tony snorted. Well she was asked to clear everything out. That included the career girl Barbie outfit. "Perfect and don't forget the…" Tony pointed to his hair. "Seriously, this has to go without a hitch," he said.

"Wait a minute… With Vancie incapacitated as Director. Boss-man the way he is… Who's taking charge?" She wondered about the possibility of a new hierarchy. "I'm sure there has to be someone taking the reigns," she said.

Tony shrugged nonchalantly. "I guess that would be me," he called out.

"You sat in the chair yet?" Abby called back.

"Ain't had time to scratch myself Abs," he checked his watch. "Hurry up Career Girl Barbie," he said as she walked by.

"You know, it didn't occur to me before. Gibbs never called me Abigail before. I should've known that that wasn't Gibbs talking," Abby said.

"Well he was not good at working covertly," Ziva commented as they got back into the car.

* * *

_**NCIS Director Vance's Office**_

Everybody minus Gibbs and whoever that guy was, met in the Director's office. "This is like the part in the Star Wars movies where they tell you what's going on and what's going to happen," Tony stood up from the chair. "And in Falling Down, Michael Douglas's character says that he has reached the point of no return… That going forward was easier than going back," Tony explained the only way he knew how. "This is that point… If anyone wishes to not go any further will not be thought of any differently," he made sure to add.

"Last time you said that… You quickly changed your mind," Palmer said.

"Last time… All you risked was prison," Tony responded without diverting his eyes. "This time we'll be risking the lives of a family and our own lives are at stake. So if you want out Palmer… Say it now," Tony was reminded of the Eric Bana speech in Blackhawk Down._ It only matters what you do now, _Eric Bana's character told the guy after he had admitted being scared. He looked at Ducky who was thinking about the same thing.

"Count me in," Palmer said.

"Good to have you back Black Lung," Tony smiled before turning back to the others. "So is everybody in?" He hoped that everyone was. Everybody nodded in response. "Good… Now, Ziva and I would be going over the road to Vance's house and having putting a couple of cameras across the street so that we can get a good look in. Pal – I mean Black Lung," Tony smiled at that. "You're going to deliver this box of files to his house and place a bug under the dining room table," Tony said.

Palmer's smile faded. He'd never willingly put himself into such danger but this time was different. "Got it," Palmer said as he pocketed the listening device.

"Ducky… As soon as we're done, reach into that bag of tricks Felix and bring something to knock someone out," Tony said. "When it's going to come to it, I'm sure that he's not going to be subdued easily," he told the ME.

"Alright, Anthony," Ducky responded.

"McGee," Tony waited for McGee to look at him. "When he comes to, I want you to convince him to keep the others assured that nothing is wrong that it's business as usual. Abby, I want you to be in MTAC and watch and listen to the cameras. To be our eyes and ears as well. I'm going to assemble an assault team and we attack at dawn… No, not really," he said. "Break," Tony said before they all began leaving the office.

* * *

Tony hung around the bullpen trying to observe what that imposter and Gibbs were doing. Also he'd spoken to a couple of team leaders on the floor and drafted the services of four agents. It was better than he had hoped for at a time like this. The leaders had quickly put their hands up to get in on the case but he refused them. The last thing he needed was more people who always thought they were in charge. Reluctantly they gave him some of their men.

"I got it here," Ducky stood next to Tony.

Tony looked down at the needle. Prepped and ready for action. "Are you prepared to use it Ducky?" He wanted to make sure that the plan was still going ahead. It was a stupid question because Ducky wasn't one to back out of anything once he committed to something.

"Yes Anthony," Ducky replied immediately.

"Good," Tony eyed Joshua as he strolled into the bullpen. Of course Gibbs was in tow. It was clear that he didn't want to be.

Gibbs caught a glimpse of Tony watching them. Tony had a look in his eye, something was going to go down. Trust his Senior Field Agent to have thought of a plan. He wondered how long it will be until or hell broke loose. Joshua, if that was his real name, was hanging around in hope that Gibbs will convince the young man into revoking the revoke of the security clearance. Hell of a bold move Tony's part he thought. Hell, Gibbs couldn't sign on to any computer. Gibbs also saw that Abby had re-entered the building in her business outfit which made her unrecognizable to the other man.

"Can I see you two for a second?" Tony asked as he stood in the middle of the bullpen. "I spoke to Director Vance and he ordered me to give you back your clearance," Tony said. "You're free to use the computer now."

Gibbs was shocked to hear this. If he didn't know better, he swore that Tony was lying to him but it was so sincere. He sat down in front of the computer and was about to begin typing as Joshua stood behind him. Tony waited for the opportunity to pounce. He was a cat stalking a bird.

Tony walked up and draped his arm around Joshua's neck and dragged held the right arm against the man's back. "Come on," Tony said as he tried to subdue the fighting man. Tony kicked the man's leg out to force him to his knees and eventually had him lying down. "Stay still," Tony said. "Ducky, bring the syringe," Tony kept the knee in the back. "Stay still. You really don't want the ME to stuff up the injection do you?" Tony smiled.

"What is that?" Joshua panicked as Tony held the man's head so he could clearly see the needle.

"Oh… Wouldn't you like to know?" Tony asked. "I wouldn't move if I was you," he warned in a mocking tone.

Ducky injected the syringe of sedative. The man soon lulled into a drug induced slumber. "Boss," Tony said to make Gibbs look up.

"Get the bastard into interrogation," Tony ordered. "Good work Ducky," Tony stood to his feet. "Now, I have to see Abby and McGee about some things," he said. That was when he left the bullpen.

* * *

_**The Apartment Over from Vance's house**_

"Oh, man, I love these stakeouts," Tony sipped from the coffee. "Thanks for letting us use the room Mrs. Worsfold and thanks for the coffee," Tony noted that it was getting onto dusk.

"Still nothing," Agent Peterson looked through the binoculars. He couldn't understand the excitement from the project leader.

Agent Jack Landis thought for a moment. "I don't know, spying on people, getting to know their lives intimately without them knowing. Something about that sounds a little kinky," he laughed and continued working on the laptop.

Tony laughed as well as he downed even more coffee. "There's that autopsy guy," Peterson said.

* * *

_**Leon Vance Residence**_

Vance and his captors listened to the speaker phone as their man, Joshua Spencer reported in. They thought that the mission would be over and done with by now. It just seemed that things hit a snag.

"Just checking in," Joshua's voice could be heard. "Uh, yeah there's a computer error and we're just waiting for it to be seen to," he explained.

"What happened?" The leader asked. He was clearly annoyed.

"Not sure exactly… Looks like a system crash. It's possible that when Agent Gibbs installed the kill switch, he installed it wrongly," Joshua answered. "Cybercrimes is working to get it back online," he explained.

"Do they suspect anything?" The leader asked.

"Not at all," he said before the leader turned off the phone.

Vance couldn't help but smile at Gibbs' computer skills. They couldn't have chosen a worse person to pick to carry out their work. "Something funny?" The leader asked. He smashed his hands against the table. Bring the girl in," he ordered coldly as he put Vance's weapon on the table. "You're going to be taught a lesson. Why does everyone not take hostage takers serious?"

"What?" Vance asked.

"You're going to be taught a valuable lesson Leon Vance. Jackie… Bring in Lily," he ordered her. "I'm not a patient man and I'm not one to be laughed at," he warned. Reluctantly Jackie came in with her daughter. There was an unearthly silence greeting her. Her heart skipped a few beats when she saw the man caress the gun in front of him. "Come here Lily. You don't like me very much do you?" He sounded almost charming.

"No, you're bad and bad things happen to bad people," Lily said defiantly.

"Lily!" Jackie held her breath.

"You're very honest aren't you? You're a very brave girl," The man ran his fingers through his dark hair. "Do you know that the brave die young?" He lifted the sig off the table. "I don't want to do this… But your father refuses to listen. Do you want to help me make him listen?" He asked her.

"Wait! Don't do this?" Leon told his daughter in a quiet voice.

"I don't want to help you," She stated.

The man laughed. "That's alright," he said.

The front doorbell rung and broke the tension of what might have happened. The leader followed Vance to the door and watched him open it. Vance wasn't expecting anyone and was shocked to find Palmer at the door with a large box of files in his hands. "Agent Gibbs and the agent from New York sent me over to give you this box of files," Palmer said as tried not to bring it.

Palmer looked around nervously before entering and following Leon into the dining room. There were some people around but they left him alone to put the box on the table. Palmer deliberately dropped his pen and it rolled under the table. "I'll get it," Palmer said exuberantly as he went to floor. "Ouch," Palmer cried out as his head bumped the bottom of the table. Fortunately he was able to place the bug before being dragged to his feet.

"Nice Pen," Lynda said as she took it off his hands.

"Wait a minute," Palmer exclaimed. "That's my pen," he said nervously.

"Mine now," she corrected.

They allowed Palmer to leave. He breathed a sigh of relief as he made it out of the house and back to his car. He looked at the house across the street and hoped that everyone had a good vantage point.

* * *

_**Palmer: The return of Black Lung… Hooray**_

_**Gibbs: Keep it up and you'll pray to have black lung. Right… Now talk!**_

_**(Thunk, click)**_

_**Gibbs: The watercooler told me**_

_**(Thunk, beep beep doop)**_

_**Gibbs: He did it willingly**_

_**(beep… Whirr)**_

_**Gibbs: Then you better give me some real answers! I want to know where Fictionnaire is.**_

_**(whirr, whirr)**_

_**Gibbs: That's all you got to say? (Grabs piece of paper from the photocopier)**_

_**Abby: That thing is noisy… I think we need a newer model**_

_**(Whirr, whirr, thunk thunk click beep, thunk, beep beep - )**_

_**Tony pulls out power cord and shows it: A talkative photocopier isn't something I want to deal with after a night of Saki Bombing **_


	7. Chapter 7

FORCED!

_**McGee: What will happen if all the James Bond actors went on Big Brother…**_

_**Ziva: Tony's fingers will be sore from texting to evict Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig.**_

_**McGee: Alright then… What if all the actors who played Doctor Who were on Survivor?**_

_**Ziva: Wherever they may be, I am sure you will be drooling over the program. It is sad really.**_

_**McGee: Ha! Alright then Ziva… What if Captain Jack Harkness gets accused of murdering a marine officer?**_

_**Ziva: That is unbelievable… Captain Jack Harkness would not murder a marine officer… Now if you said accused of trucking a marine officer… That will be much more plausible No?**_

_**McGee: Don't you mean –**_

_**Gibbs: What if I actually had agents that worked?**_

* * *

Tony was lying on the bed at the stakeout and tapped his feet as he became fully awake. He checked his watch to see what the time was. Tony hadn't planned on falling asleep but guessed his body needed it. Ziva was at him and then back out the window. "You are awake," she said.

"Yeah," Tony sat up. "About that…" he checked his watch again. "Agent Peterson and Agent Landis will be here to relieve us soon," Tony thought for a moment. "Have you heard from McGee or Abby?"

"I did not too long ago," Ziva answered him. It wasn't protocol to allow your stakeout partner to sleep on the job. "They are still working on finding out who these guys are. Whoever they are, they sure are secretive," she said.

"Anything at all?" Tony asked as he rubbed his eyes. It was frustrating that the answers weren't coming when he wanted them.

Ziva shook her head as the door to the bedroom opened. Agent Peterson and Agent Jack walked through the door with their nonchalant greeting as they were embroiled in their own conversation. Tony almost closed the door in a third agent's face. "Theodore," Tony greeted. The two agents' team leader didn't say much in return. Tony wanted to keep this to the minimal amount of agents as possible. However, he knew that their Lead Agent would want to make sure that his agents weren't being misused. He understood that to a certain extent. Just as long as he understood that this was his operation, Tony would continue to allow him to be on board.

"Hm, nice," Agent Jack commented as he watched Ziva and Tony leave.

"Jack," Peterson said in a warning tone.

* * *

_**NCIS HQ**_

It was coming close to the time where Spencer was due to phone in attempt to convince the others that nothing was amiss. But this time, he wasn't playing ball. McGee talked to Gibbs in the observation room as they kept an eye on the man sitting alone.

"Perhaps you can convince him Boss," McGee watched Gibbs drink coffee.

Gibbs shook his head. "DiNozzo put you in charge of that department," he told the young agent. Tony had taken charge of the team and had specified that McGee would do the convincing and he wasn't about to go against the current team leader.

"I think you should," McGee said. His boss was good at bending people into his way of thinking.

Gibbs shook his head. "DiNozzo entrusted you McGee. Now get in there and get him to do what you want," he told him. How come, that whenever there was a shift in the team's structure… They felt the need to go through a personality change. It was evident that the confidence issue was starting to show in McGee. He watched the agent

McGee walked into the interrogation room. He had gotten people to confess before. But this was major. A deep-seated conspiracy was being thwarted. That coupled with the Director's family being held hostage pushed this way beyond serious. "Make the call!" McGee placed the cell on the table in front of him.

"Forget it," Spencer said as he sat back in his chair. He was no longer going to play the game with NCIS. "I won't do it," he reiterated his statement.

"You know that they'll go easy on you if you co-operate with us," McGee looked past the mirror to where he knew Gibbs was watching. He could feel him watching.

"No," Spencer replied once again. He continued to hold onto his silence, choosing not to give anything away.

"So that's it then," McGee shook his head as he placed his hands on the table. "You're just going to allow a whole family to be murdered? Why?" He asked. He wondered how people get to the point where human life means nothing. That was something he really never wanted to understand.

"Trying to goad me into doing what you want?" Spencer scoffed.

McGee saw red. It wasn't often he felt himself wanting to snap. In a swift moment he lifted his sig to the man's temple and tightened the trigger. "How would you like your brains spattered all over this wall?" McGee raised his voice. "You have no regard for lives… Well, why should I have regard for yours?" He pressed the sig's barrel right against the temple. "Make the phone call… Five, four…"

"Ok, Ok," Spencer said calmly. "I'll make the call you psycho," he raised the phone up and began dialing. McGee holstered the weapon and listened to the man talk on the phone.

* * *

Gibbs' famous gut instinct told him that everything was going to hell. He had to take the initiative on this one. He called the people at Vance's house. He told them that he had the rest of the files and evidence that they had required. To make sure things went off without a hitch, he also told them that the man known as Spencer had been caught in a restricted area and was now held in custody. He made sure that they believed the man had been compromised.

As soon as he got off the cell, Gibbs dialed Tony's number. He reached him and gave the rundown of what was going on and where the meeting place was being held before closing the cell.

"Sorry Boss," McGee said as he entered the observation room. "The guy wouldn't go through with it," he waited for the dressing down.

"Relax McGee," Gibbs told him. "I had assumed that he wasn't going to co-operate this time and already rung the people and organized a meeting where I'm going to hand the files over…" He was immediately interrupted.

"But you don't have any of the files," McGee stated the obvious problem with that plan.

"I know that… You know that but they sure as hell don't," Gibbs said. "Get me a large box, some files and some things that resemble evidence… You got that?" He ordered the younger agent.

"Like what?" McGee asked.

"Think McGee," Gibbs responded. "Alright…" He searched his mind to come up with. "Right, we need five nine millimeter bullets, a two way radio and a silky blue tie," Gibbs rattled off the list of evidence that was high on the priority list.

"I don't know where to get the silky blue tie… Oh wait, I do," McGee said cryptically before leaving.

"Good," Gibbs rubbed his jaw. "McGee! After that, I want you to bring the box to me and get in MTAC, call everybody and find out who the hell these guys are."

"On it Boss," McGee said. Tony was a very capable team leader but having Gibbs barking orders was the normality he was used to.

_**

* * *

**__**Director's Office NCIS**_

Tony had made it back to NCIS hastily with the assist from Ziva's driving. McGee had set up a mini conference with Theodore and his agents before disappearing back to MTAC. His part in the mission was clear. Tony studied the director's chair before sitting on it. The smile that appeared on his face was quickly removed as he put the phone on speaker.

"Has there been any change of the behavioral pattern changes?" Tony asked as he cast an eye to Gibbs. It felt weird to be in charge while Gibbs was still in the same room. Though, Gibbs didn't say anything.

"No," Jack's voice could be heard. "There was a heated discussion between the people but nothing directed at the hostages," he concluded.

"Things are going to become real hectic," Tony said with all seriousness. "Eighteen hundred and forty five hours a couple of them will be leaving to meet with Gibbs. You are not to act on anything until you receive a call from us… Is that clear?" Tony asked.

"Yes Agent DiNozzo," Theodore responded.

"Good," Tony thought for a moment. "We're going to be sending someone over there with a bit of firepower," he told them. Tony wanted to make sure that if things went to hell in a hand basket they'd be armed.

"Or we could just give them what they want," a female voice came from the doorway. "Then go from there," she walked to the desk. "I'm Agent Brenda Nichols," she didn't offer her hand.

Gibbs was the one who shook his head. "No, you give them what you want… Once those kind of people know how to get to you… They'll continue blackmailing you until they come across something you won't or can't give up," Gibbs said. He didn't think about that until Tony had burned his boss. "It was pretty well demonstrated in that Harrison Ford movie where he was on Air Force One… I can't remember the name of the movie," Gibbs shrugged his shoulders while Ziva and Tony just looked at him, with mouth agape.

"I'm reporting for duty," Brenda snapped her heels. "I'm the marksman," she explained her presence.

"Good," Tony said without looking up.

"Rules of engagement?" Brenda asked.

"If things start going south then you start doing what you gotta do," Tony said to her. "You drive with Ziva," he wrote down the location onto a piece of paper and handed it to Ziva. "Find a good vantage point," he told them.

"Got it Tony," Ziva replied immediately as her and Brenda left the office.

"You look comfortable there," Gibbs noted that Tony was really lapping up sitting in the Director's chair. "However this turns out… I want you to know that you're doing a great job," he said.

"I wouldn't have had to take this road if I hadn't had your clearance revoked," Tony said as he stood up. "I'm just trying to repair the possible damage that my decision had caused," he added guiltily.

Gibbs reached up and slapped him on the back of the head… Hard! "You did what you should have done DiNozzo," Gibbs stated flatly. "Have faith… You did great."

Tony blushed as soon as Gibbs' back was turned and quickly donned the game face. "Air Force One," he simply said.

"What?" Gibbs asked.

"That was the movie where Harrison Ford was on Air Force One," Tony shrugged his shoulders. He knew it wasn't important.

"You don't think I know that DiNozzo," Gibbs didn't turn around. "Get off… my back," he said before they closed the door to the office before making leaving.

* * *

_**Fictionnaire: This is where the story really begins to heat up**_

_**Ziva: Has it not already?**_

_**Fictionnaire: Are you still angry over that Faith comment?**_

_**Ziva: I am still angry over that… Yes!**_

_**Fictionnaire: You should really learn how to use contractions**_

_**Ziva: What is the point? It is not important.**_

_**Fictionnaire: You want to be a mother one day don't you? Every woman does. How can you ever be a mother naturally if you don't believe in contractions?**_

_**Tony: He's got a point Zee-Vah**_

_**McGee: Sure has.**_


	8. Chapter 8

Ziva looked over at the building where Brenda was stationed. She couldn't see to the other side to view the other vantage point. For the moment, Ziva allowed herself time to assess the shooter over the other side of the street. The woman wasn't much too look at, nothing stood out judging by her physique.

"Got a good view?" Ziva asked through her headset.

"Yes," Came the direct answer from Brenda.

Ziva could tell she wasn't much of a conversationalist. That was alright, there was a job to do and their minds needed to be on it. She kept her mind focused.

Gibbs drove the car with Tony lying undercover in the backseat. He couldn't be a hundred percent certain that they wouldn't be observed before they reached the destination. Tony could hear the one way chatter before he gave the order to maintain radio silence until further instruction. His heart was pounding to pump the extra adrenaline through his body.

"You up for this Boss?" Tony almost whispered.

"Yes I am," Gibbs answered. "Are you ready?" He asked his senior field agent. There was no chance that this could go smoothly. In fact it was unsettling. It'd have been easier if he didn't have to worry about the Vance family as well but had faith that Tony had that end covered.

"Yes Boss," Tony said in a convincing tone. Part of him was scared to death. There were so many lives depending on any decision he made. A range of emotions ran through his mind… What if he did screw the op up? What if he already had? Tony shook his head to try and stop second guessing himself.

Brenda kept an eye out over the area. She saw Gibbs' car stop in the middle of the street. Fortunately there wasn't any traffic in this part of town. Her finger lightly massaged the trigger, itching to fire it. Her breathing became slightly erratic as the second car pulled up.

* * *

Ziva kept her rifle concentrated on the driver. She was ready for anything that could possibly happen The seriousness had been instilled in her but she'd already known that. It was good to know that everyone had understood it.

Gibbs slowly stepped out of the car and pulled out the box from the front seat. He walked to the middle of the two cars and waited. "You got the box?!" A voice called out from the other car.

"Right here!" Gibbs answered as he lifted the box up further to show them. A young man stepped out of the car to approach him. Gibbs stayed perfectly calm. "I got what you wanted," Gibbs said to him.

The man looked into the box and nodded. "Give it here," the man said.

Gibbs looked over the man's shoulder at the van the others had arrived in. "Not until I get assurances that they're all safe," Gibbs said to him. The delay in handing over the box must have caused uneasiness.

"You know we know about the federal agents you have over the street watching us!" Another voice called out.

Tony used his cell to call the other agents that were watching the house. There was no answer. He grimaced. "Hands on guns girls," Tony ordered into the headset. He cursed at himself.

"They're being handled at this moment," The man laughed. "So something's up. You were found out," The man got out of the car. "Bring the girl out to the car," the man ordered.

_I have a clear shot – _Brenda's voice came through the headset.

"Are there anymore in the van?" Tony asked as he slid to the front seat of the car and out the open passenger's side.

_Don't have a clear vigil – _Brenda answered.

Gibbs heart skipped a beat as he saw Lily's scared face. "Hey, I've got what you wanted… Let them go," Gibbs said.

"You tried to betray us. We gave you a time frame," The man said.

Tony assumed that the guy doing the main speaking was the leader. He rubbed his hair nervously. He thought he was ready to give the order but something made him want to wait. "Kill the guy who's holding the girl," he said. There wasn't time to wait. A shot rang out and Lily was able to break free as the captor hit the ground. Firing now was coming from both sides. Gibbs ran to Lily and carried her to safety as he panted hard.

The rest happened so quickly and Tony took out the man who had been standing in front of Gibbs once. Unfortunately another couple of shots were fired and it sent Tony ducking back to the cover of the door.

Ziva turned her attention to the current shooter and fired a couple of times. That just left the leader who placed the his pistol on the ground and held his hands up. "Ceasefire. I want him," Tony ordered as he approached the leader. "I should kill you where you stand," Tony told him when they were in talking distance.

"Yeah, we know you won't because you're part of the so called good guys," The leader responded as with a grim smile. Anyway he looked at it, he knew that this escapade was over for him.

"Good… Bad, I'm the guy with the gun," Tony smirked as he slapped the handcuffs on him and read him the rights. "Ok, its all clear," he said to Ziva and Brenda.

"Boss, Lily!?" Tony had called out. But there was no answer. "Lily! Boss!"

Tony waited till Ziva and Brenda stepped onto the street. "Ok, Ziva you put this suspect into the car and Agent Nichols would you take care of the bodies," Tony said as he looked around for his boss. "There you are Boss," Tony said cheerfully. It was a relief to see him and Lily.

"Lily," Gibbs got the girl's attention. "Why don't you go and wait the by the car? We'll take you back home as soon as we can," he said and looked directly at Tony. "You did a great job. There's not a day goes by…" he began to say.

"Oh come on Boss, no need to get mushy," Tony said.

"Shut up… There's not a day goes by that you haven't made me proud to have you in my life," Gibbs said as he stopped in his tracks. "You're a damn good agent and I never said it enough," his voice trailed off.

"Boss? Are you ok?" Tony managed to catch Gibbs before he hit the ground. He eased his boss onto the road. "Hey… Ziva! Call the paramedics. Gibbs has been hit!" Tony began looking for the wound. "Where's it hurt?"

Gibbs felt himself fading. "You were always my son Tony," he said dreamily.

"Don't do this Boss! Mission's not over yet," Tony's mind suddenly went into flashback. "I'm still in charge Dam it! Listen to me Gibbs… Are you listening?"

Gibbs sighed but there was a hint of a smile as he struggled to breathe. "It won't work on me," he said dryly.

"It worked on me," Tony took off his tie and pressed it against the wound on the chest. "Help's on the way," he said.

"You're strong," Gibbs winced as Tony's pressure increased.

"I'm still in charge Boss," Tony smiled halfheartedly. "You. Will. Not. Die." He articulated the words just as his boss had years before. "They're coming for you soon," he assured Gibbs. "You know I wouldn't use my tie on just anything," Tony said.

Even though Gibbs was holding on as best as he could, he was fading fast, Tony was relieved when the paramedics arrived. The empty street was alive with action as he made sure that Gibbs was safely loaded on the ambulance before reaching for his cell.

"McGee!" Tony shouted into the phone. "Meet me at Vance's house. Get Abby on the phone now. No questions," he ordered him.

_On it. Abs._

"Abs… Get Ducky and head down to Bethesda," Tony stepped into the car with Ziva and Brenda and the prisoner. "Gibbs has been shot. Pretty bad," he explained the situation.

_Oh my God… Is he ok, is he going to be ok? How bad is it?_ Tony had to remove the cell from his ear to lessen the high pitched tirade coming from the other end.

"I don't know Abby," Tony said truthfully as he rubbed his forehead. "I just don't know… You and Ducky get to Bethesda and keep me apprised of his condition," he eventually said. "This is Gibbs we're talking about… He'll pull through," Tony assured her. He just wished he could believe it himself.

_Shall do… Be careful Tony._ Abby said before cutting off the transmission.

"Agent Nichols… I need you to take Lily and the prisoner back to NCIS. Can you do that?" Tony asked the other female agent.

"Yes Agent DiNozzo," Brenda answered. She didn't like the idea of babysitting a child but an order was an order. It was easy to snap into the obeying mode that she was so use to.

Tony cleared his head and began to drive with his foot planted on the accelerator. Ziva grabbed hold of the door handle tightly. Tony's increase in speed took her aback at first because usually he was the cautious driver. "You know if we don't get there in one piece we won't be much help to anyone," Ziva told him.

Tony didn't say anything in return. His attention was completely on the job. They were going to get there as fast as they could. The car sped through the traffic.

* * *

_**VANCE'S RESIDENCE**_

Tony's car came to a screeching halt. The lights flashing showed that that the action that had occurred was now over. Sound seemed to fade as Tony stepped out of the car and up to the paramedics. The horrible thought of body bags for the family filled his mind. "Agent Landis!" Tony briskly walked up to the young agent who was trying to organize the scene. "Is everyone alright?"

"No… I'm sorry, it's just," The young man stammered over his own thinking.

"Walk with me… What happened?" He asked.

"They looked like they were going to injure the family so we had to make our move," Agent Landis explained. "Peterson's in with the Director now. Theodore, I mean Agent Walker was killed when we crossed the street," he was trying to keep it together by keeping a certain professional detachment from what had occurred.

Tony turned to face the younger agent. "Look, I want you to get checked out by the paramedic over there," Tony ordered.

"I'm fine… I'm not hurt," He protested feverishly.

"Just do it anyway then come back inside," Tony ran his fingers through his hair as they entered the house. "Sir," he greeted Vance.

"Agent DiNozzo," Vance greeted back. "What about Lily?" He asked.

"She's alright. A little shaken up… But she's down at NCIS," Tony answered. "We came down here to see how this end… Ended up," Tony looked around. Everything seemed to be in order. Mostly, anyway.

"Things went to hell here. There was only one casualty from our side," Vance said. He hated the thought of losing any of his agents. "How about your end?"

Tony bit his lip hard and adjusted his collar nervously. "Gibbs was wounded in action. He's down at Bethesda. I'm waiting for an update. You'll know as soon as I do," Tony said. "So is everything under control here?" Tony asked. At the moment, the crime scene was being sorted out by Peterson and Landis. Tony grimaced at the thought of having to speak to them afterwards.

"We will meet see you at NCIS when you pick up Lily," Ziva said.

"You did great work Agent DiNozzo," Vance said to him.

It didn't feel like it was a job well done. Gibbs was badly wounded, another team has lost their leader. God, what had he done? Tony gave a lopsided grin but couldn't say anything in return. Ziva and Tony headed back to NCIS.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

_**FORCED!**_

Brenda stood in the 'at ease' stance. Old habits died hard. She looked at the little girl as if she was an alien. That's what it felt like. "What do you do?" Brenda asked looking down at Lily.

"I'm a girl," Lily answered quietly.

"I see that," Brenda responded flatly. "I mean do you draw? Do you cartwheel? Or do hair?" She asked.

"You can do my hair?" Lily asked hopefully.

"No," Brenda answered. She hoped that someone would come along and take the kid off her hands. She reached into her desk drawer and pulled out some computer paper and put them on the desk in front of Lily with a pencil. "Draw," it sounded like an order.

"I don't know what to draw," Lily said with a sincere look.

"Draw me then," Brenda suggested. She regretted it when the young girl ordered her to stand still. She sighed before complying. This could be a long night. This was the parts of her job she hated. It never said babysitting in her job description. A smile of relief appeared on her usually expressionless face when Tony and Ziva exited the elevator. It felt as if it had been hours standing on the spot so she could be drawn. Her watch said it had only been thirty odd minutes.

Tony banged on the cubicle wall to get her attention. "Agent Nichols," he got her attention.

"You can call me Brenda Agent DiNozzo," Brenda told him.

Tony shook his head. "Thanks for your work earlier," he said. Ziva watched him talk to Brenda and informed her of the death of her immediate superior. At first, Brenda didn't seem to react to the news.

"May I be excused Agent DiNozzo?" Brenda asked to be dismissed without making any eye contact.

Tony nodded without saying anything. He watched her leave the area and brought Lily into the bullpen. He couldn't believe how much of a turn things had taken. Ziva kept the little girl entertained. Who would've believed that a Mossad trained assassin would be so good with children. He watched the two interact.

* * *

Ziva was checking out Lily's drawing and helping her a bit. Occasionally, they laughed as she suggested they put some extra things on the drawing. She looked over at Tony who was resting his head in his folded arms. Ziva wondered and hoped that he was getting some much needed rest. The man in custody didn't need to be questioned right away. Legally they had a right to hold him for over a day. Ziva answered Tony's cell that rung loudly.

"Ducky?" Ziva read the name on the small screen. "What is the news on Gibbs?"

"Ah, Ziva," Ducky said on the other end. "Where is Anthony?" There was a hint of concern in his voice that he attempted to keep hidden.

"He is sprawled over the desk napping," Ziva answered as she walked away as to not disturb him.

"Leave him be. I think the boy needs it. Jethro's coming out of surgery now," Ducky replied to give them an update. "The surgery went as well as expected but there was a large amount of blood loss… It might be touch and go but they're positive that he'll make a full recovery," Ducky sounded positive over the phone.

"Good, I shall let Tony know as soon as he wakes up," Ziva said as she closed the cell and returned it to Tony's desk as quietly as possible.

"Daddy!" Lily squealed with delight as she ran up and hugged Vance as soon as he came into sight. "You're ok!"

"Lily!" Vance's voice almost matched the level of excitement coming from his daughter as he lifted her off the ground before placing her back down. "Are you alright?" He said, ignoring people around at the moment.

"I've been good. I was so brave," Lily said.

"I'm sure you were," he said.

Tony had heard the commotion and now was standing beside Ziva trying to hide the fact that he was yawning. "It's scene's like these that makes the job worth it," Tony commented quietly. He saw Brenda stand at her usual stance at the other side of Ziva.

"Come and see what I did," Lily dragged Vance to the desk with where her drawing of Brenda was. She handed it to Vance proudly.

"That's a great drawing of Agent Nichols," Vance told her. They walked back to where the three agents were standing. "Thanks," he said as he shook his hands.

Brenda snapped to attention before shaking his hand.

"Thanks for posing for my daughter," Vance said.

"I'm just doing my job sir," Brenda responded.

Ziva gave Tony and Vance the update on Gibbs' condition. It was obvious that they weren't going to get any more information until the morning. The three agents followed Vance to the elevator. As soon as the elevator doors dinged open… The forensic scientist burst through, bypassing Vance and latching onto Tony. He almost went sprawling into Ziva.

"Easy Abs," Tony said. "I need to breathe," perhaps that was her way of killing somebody. "Abs… I really need… to breathe," he said in a half joking tone. Finally she released the vice-like grip.

"Sorry Tony, are you ok? Ziva? Where's McGee is he alright?" Abby began rambling. "They can't say much until Gibbs wakes up and then they will. Ducky had sent me here to make sure you go home and rest as well as Ziva. Ducky's gone home as well. I know it's difficult and all but I know it's been tough lately," she said.

"Alright… Oh shit," Tony said. "Just realized that McGee's still at Vance's house," he explained the outburst.

"I'll send him home when I get back," Vance said as he stepped into the elevator. "I suggest you all go home to. Oh and Agent DiNozzo… Hope you enjoyed your time on the chair," Vance noted the shocked look on the Senior Agent's face. "Don't look so surprised… You were in charge for awhile so I can safely assume that you've sat in my chair," he said before the elevator doors closed.

* * *

_**ABBY'S PLACE**_

Tony laid on the couch. His mind was still racing so much he couldn't even close his eyes. There was no reason for him being with Gibbs and Ziva. Instead, he should've been over at Vance's house and led the other team. He cursed himself majorly… McGee could've taken his spot there. Why the hell did he have him at MTAC anyway? And he should have forced Gibbs to wear a vest. Who was in charge anyway?

Abby walked over to the couch and moved Tony's head onto her lap. She was thankful that he made himself comfortable at least. It was obvious that his mind had trouble shutting down so Abby did the only thing she knew to settle him down. Tony sighed as Abby ran her fingers through his hair delicately. "What you thinking?" Abby said just loud enough for Tony to hear.

"I got Theodore killed. I should've been with the other team outside Vance's place," Tony answered eventually.

"Then who would've backed up Gibbs. I know Ziva and that other girl was there… But," Abby began.

"I should've gotten him to backup Gibbs," Tony threw the thought out there. "Come to think of it, anybody could've done the job at MTAC," he said.

"Gibbs still could've been shot," Abby responded. She hated thinking like that.

"I should've forced him to wear the vest," Tony said grimly. "I was in charge. I could've ordered him to do it… Problem solved."

"You really think you could've ordered Gibbs to wear a vest?" Abby raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't even try," Tony closed his eyes and mumbled something afterwards.

"You would have if you thought you could've convinced him," Abby said softly. She knew that his body needed to sleep so she refused to keep him awake any longer than needed.

"I know," came the elongated sigh in reply followed by silence.

"Good," Abby said while still stroking his hair.

* * *

_**OUT IN THE FIELDS**_

'_Hush little baby don't say a word… Mama's going to buy you a mockingbird.'_

The man in dressed in full desert camouflage fatigues walked across the field. His gait showed the happiness he felt. For the first time he felt like he was home.

'_If that mockingbird don't sing… Mama's going to buy you a diamond ring.'_

It was home for him alright. He slung the sniper rifle over his shoulder and embraced the woman that was greeting him. She was ecstatic but in tears to see her man home again.

'_If that diamond rings turn to brass… Mama's going to buy you a looking glass.'_

Gibbs removed the helmet and dropped it by his feet. It was easy to shed his former clothes and he held the embrace tightly. "I never thought I'd see you again," he felt as if he was on the verge of tears.

'_If that looking glass gets broke… Mama's going to buy you a billy-goat.'_

"Jethro," the woman cried in his arms. The warmth radiated from the couple still in love with each other after all the years of separation.

'_If that billy-goat won't pull… Mama's going to buy you a cart and bull.'_

"Shannon," Gibbs almost whispered. He couldn't believe it. Many times he had dreamt of this reunion and now it was here. It wasn't a memory, Gibbs knew that. This was coming together again.

'_If that cart turns over… Mama's going to buy you a dog named Rover.'_

"I missed you Shannon… Every damned day I missed you," Jethro kissed her deeply. He was definitely home. His heart had always belonged to her and Kelly.

'_If that dog named Rover won't bark… Mama's going to buy you a horse and cart.'_

He felt his sniper rifle slip down his arm and landed on the ground beneath him. How easy it was to rid him self of it? Gibbs began unbuttoning his jacket.

'_If that horse and cart falls down… You'll still be the sweetest little baby in town.'_

"Daddy!" Kelly screamed at the top of her lungs in high pitched excitement. She leapt into Gibbs' arms and he swung her around. Everything that ever happened seemed to make this reunion well worth the wait. "Daddy!" Kelly giggled. "I love you daddy," she said.

* * *

(DiNozzo, Gibbs, Ziva, Abby and Ducky are staring straight ahead.)

Fictionnaire: I think I broke them all(snaps fingers) hello? Hello!

(No response)

Fictionnaire: There's James Bond drinking coffee while he's getting his ass kicked by a Mossad Assassin in Peru.

(No response)

Fictionnaire: Hey they say people get a 1000 yard stare if they've seen too much… I wonder then if this will be the 5000 yard stare… Oh I'm outta here.

(Fictionnaire walks away)

Abby: See, I told you if we ignored him he'll go away


	10. Chapter 10

Tony opened his eyes. At first he felt disorientated. Where was he? What had happened? Then it all came flooding back to him. The shootout on the street and the trouble at Vance's house was the first thing that he thought about. A dead agent and a wounded agent came next. Again, Tony cursed at himself… They weren't just agents they had names.

Tony wasn't sure about how much sleep he had… But after the shower at Abby's he felt much better. Fortunately there were some of his clothes there and he was able to sneak out before disturbing Abby. Oh his head was still running with thoughts. First thing on his to do list was get to the hospital and see how Gibbs was doing… Then update everybody on the condition… Interrogate the suspects…

"I need a coffee," Tony thought out loud. "No wonder, Gibbs drinks so much coffee," he chuckled slightly. That sounded about right.

* * *

_**BETHESDA HOSPITAL**_

Tony wasn't surprised to see Ducky already at the hospital. "Duck. Please tell me you went home last night," Tony told the ME.

"Yes Anthony," Ducky answered. "I assume that you're here for the update on Jethro's condition… He's still in a serious but stable condition. The doctors are having problems bringing his vitals back to normal," he explained.

"Can I see him?" Tony asked.

Ducky pointed him into the right direction and Tony slowly walked into the hospital room and saw that his boss looked like he was hooked up to everything. It was impossible to fathom what it was like being on the other side of the glass so to speak. It was easy to see now why everyone had worried about him after he'd gotten sick. They just didn't want to Tony like that again.

"Anthony," Ducky got the young man's attention.

"I've got to get going," Tony responded eventually. "There's just some things that I need to do," he said quietly. "I'll come back later," he only just managed to get out of there without making a spectacle of himself.

* * *

Gibbs couldn't wipe the smile off his face. He entered the house with his first family. As soon as he walked through door, the aroma of a Sunday roast tickled his nostrils. Was it Sunday? That thought quickly dissipated. It really didn't matter now. One day or the next… Gibbs was sure it was the same. "Smells great honey," Gibbs commented.

"I helped," Kelly shouted loudly.

"Of course you did," Gibbs ruffled her hair. "What part of it did you do?" He was even surprised at how young his voice sounded. Being with them had taken years off his life. He felt young again.

"I stuffed the chicken," Kelly answered triumphantly.

"That's wonderful," Gibbs spoke loudly.

"She did a fantastic job," Shannon smiled at the interaction. That was something they had all missed.

* * *

_**NCIS HQ**_

Tony filled in Abby, McGee and Ziva with what Ducky had told him. He knew Gibbs and knew that he would pull through for the team. They needed him and selfishly he knew he needed Gibbs to. They were about to bring Joshua in when it seemed that Fornell appeared out of nowhere.

"We're here to take that man into our custody," Fornell said coldly.

"The hell you are," Tony answered back.

"I know that you're in charge again and are desperate to prove yourself in a pissing contest DiNotso," Fornell challenged.

"With me," Tony said as he walked towards the elevator. "Fornell! Heel!" He ordered.

Tony cut off the elevator power in between floors. "How's Jethro doing?" Fornell asked Tony. His jaw dropped at the question. "It's just a charade that me and Jethro play out there… In here we talk things out," Fornell explained.

"I should've known," Tony said. "Gibbs is in serious condition. He hasn't regained consciousness yet. The doctors are positive though about the recovery though," Tony shrugged.

"That's good. As I say I'm here to take Joshua into our custody. He impersonated an FBI agent," Fornell explained.

"In the NCIS building," Tony told him. "And he's in our custody… So we got the upper hand," Tony explained.

"I really know that you feel it's important to get one over on me DiNozzo," Fornell turned to face him seriously. "But Johua is rightfully ours."

Tony rubbed his neck. "Alright… But I swear, if you find anything that needs to be followed up… I want my team involved or you're getting nothing," Tony wanted to make sure his point was coming across.

"Right," Fornell responded affirmatively. "Damn, you and Jethro are so much alike it's almost funny," he commented on it as they left the elevator.

"I'm surprised you didn't want both," Tony shrugged his shoulders.

"Because I knew that hell would freeze over before you gave up both," Fornell laughed. "But I expect you to afford me the same courtesy," Fornell was serious.

"Just don't come into my yard and start barking like some big dog," Tony half smiled. It felt great to be able to relieve some of his tension. "I'll call you when there's any change in Gibbs," Tony told Fornell.

* * *

McGee and Ziva brought in the man that was captured doing the shootout on the street. After they put him into custody they talked with each other in the hallway before entering observation.

"Do you think he is handling it well?" Ziva asked, indicating she was talking about Tony. His co-operation with Fornell was a bit of a concern and hoped he'd be able to do his job even if Tony's mind was on Gibbs.

"I'm sure he's handling it good. He wouldn't have given up that Joshua guy or whoever he was without a good fight. Tony's going to get what he needs out of this guy," McGee said with a little bit of confidence.

Ziva thought for a moment. "I am not questioning his ability… I just want to make sure he has his mind on the job at hand," she told McGee.

"I understand… But I think Tony is just fine. But I guess time will tell at the moment," he had the same doubts.

"Perhaps you are right McGee," Ziva replied but not sounding too convinced.

Tony watched the man sit down in front of him. So far he hadn't been given a name. "Care to tell me your name?" Tony asked. "I can't go through calling you the man or just John Doe now can I?" He asked while he maintained eye contact.

The man shrugged.

"Oh will it kill you to give me your name?" Tony asked. Why did suspects always seem to intent on playing games with him? He kept his face expressionless. "You know it's just a matter of time before fingerprints gets a match," he said.

"Then why ask me… What are you doing?" The man asked as he saw Tony writing down some notes on a notepad.

"I'm make a note of how uncooperative you're being," Tony smirked. "You're really in deep now. Considering you were shooting at federal agents, taking people hostage, espionage… Guess what?! They're just the things I can rattle off the top of my head," Tony's voice began getting louder. "Now you won't even cooperate with me just a little bit?"

"That's right," The man responded.

"You know that all but one of your friends were killed in the confrontation. So not a lot of chances for you to pass the buck," Tony said triumphantly.

The man shrugged his shoulders. "You're trying to get a confession out of me?" He still played it coldly and the irritation was clearly beginning to show on Tony's face.

"Just tell me the reason!" Tony smacked the table as he stood up. "What was so important that you were willing to kill for?! Are you working alone or for someone?!" Tony shouted into the man's ear.

"You think shouting is going to intimidate me?" The man asked.

Without thinking he grabbed the man and had him against the wall. His mind was filled with rage and he really just wanted to hurt somebody. "You think this is a game?" Tony asked. "An agent is dead another agent is in the hospital. You want to tell me how you think that this is a game?"

"Tony," Ziva said. Tony didn't even hear the door open. "I think you should leave," she said and waited for Tony to step into the hallway.

"Abby got a match on the fingerprints. The man's identified as Corporal Bradley Stevens. Served in the marines in the mid nineties," McGee explained to him. "Also we got the ID of the other people that were involved," he said.

"Let me guess," Tony said. "They all served together," He took the information and read over it. His assumption was right. "Gee, they're just like the A-Team… Kinda," Tony said and he noted the blank look on Ziva's face. "You know… They're a unit of ex marines who stay together and do jobs for people in need. Actually there was this one episode where there was another team that was suppose to be like a mirror image of them doing bad things and making the A-Team look bad," he said.

"I think I remember that episode," McGee said. "But barely," he thought for a moment.

"Hey, McGee remember that team we ran into a few years back. That was so much like that," Tony said.

Ziva slapped Tony up the back of the head. "Would you keep your mind on the job?" Ziva told him.

"Oh right," Tony said. "McGee… I want you to check out the financial records of all the people," he ordered. "Ziva… I'm probably going to regret this but I want a confession out of this guy," he said to her. Part of him thought it was better to have someone else pull the confession. He really felt on the edge.

"Yes," Ziva said. She knew the slap would get him to focus more.

"DiNozzo!" Tony answered the phone as soon as it rung. It was Ducky on the other end saying that he needed to get down to Bethesda urgently. He didn't need to be asked twice. "Ziva… Get it done. I'll call you as soon as I can," Tony closed the cell and left.

* * *

Gibbs had to laugh at himself… It felt odd being with his family again but as time progressed it was feeling more natural. He stoked the fire to add to the warmth. Life was perfect. Kelly was playing with her doll's hair and Shannon was doing Kelly's hair in return. Nothing in the world could replace being with his real family.

"What's funny Jethro? You have this goofy look on your face," Shannon laughed. Gibbs' marine persona was beginning to fade. That made her happy.

"This is so perfect," Gibbs answered. "Being with my family," he sat on the chair next to them.

"I missed you so much daddy," Kelly gave the doll to Gibbs for inspection.

He laughed. "There wasn't a day that went by when I didn't think about you," Gibbs responded.

"We know Jethro," Shannon commented. "Doesn't she look so pretty?" She asked.

"Yes honey… Just like her mother," Gibbs sighed contently. He wasn't going to leave them or let them leave ever again. Losing them once was hard enough.

"Can we play a game?" Kelly asked innocently.

"Sure… What game would you like to play?" Gibbs asked.

"Pictionary!" Kelly shouted and they all laughed together. Gibbs nodded a 'yes' "Yay!" She screamed loudly.

"Yay!" Gibbs matched her level of excitement. "You get it set up and I'll play," he said. Kelly ran off somewhere and Gibbs leaned over and kissed his wife slowly and with more feeling than he ever felt before.

"Welcome home," she said again.

* * *

**BETHESDA **

Ducky led Tony to where Gibbs' doctor was. "I'm Doctor Steve Borden," Borden extended his hand to for Tony to shake it.

"How's his condition Doc?" Tony asked. He had assumed that Ducky had informed the doctor that they were the nearest thing to Next Of Kin than anything else.

The doctor looked uneasy. "We can't seem to bring him back. His condition has been deteriorating," Borden answered grimly. "It's like he's losing the will to fight," he added.

Tony looked down and bit his tongue.

"We're not saying there's no hope… There's always hope," Borden continued on. "I think it might help if there's someone really close to him to talk to him. To reach out to him. Doctor Mallard has informed me of your closeness to Special Agent Gibbs."

"That's why I called you Anthony," Ducky said. "It is often documented that patients can hear everything that's going on around them. They just can't respond. The most interesting case came from a young woman who…"

"You think that'll work? Perhaps you should've called Abby. She'd be a better choice for it. If anything, she can get anybody to listen," Tony suggested the better option.

"Anthony! You are the choice right now. You can pull him through…." Ducky admonished Tony's negativity towards himself. But knew that the type of relationship the two men had, it could work.

"I'll make sure you're not disturbed Agent DiNozzo and anyone else," Borden responded. "Sure there'll be people doing the usual rounds… I'll make sure that they understand not to interrupt, interfere or interact or comment or react to anything that you say. They're professionals so they'll follow my orders and if they don't… I'll take them out with my bat," he smiled to show he was just joking.

_**Gibbs' Room**_

Tony sat on a chair right next to Gibbs. He looked at Ducky and shrugged. How was he suppose to begin? What was he to say? Ducky tapped him on the shoulder before leaving. Ducky knew that Tony would need the privacy if it was to work. He hadn't acknowledged that Ducky even left.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do here Boss," Tony tried to shut out the sound of the machines. "I guess I know nothing without you holding my hand. Guess it's taken me this long to realize it," he sat back in his chair in deep thought for a moment. Was that true? He shook his head. "You can just get people to do what you want with just a few words," Tony sighed heavily. "I wish I could do the same thing you know."

* * *

Abby: Yay its getting dramatic... I love dramatic!

Gibbs and Tony: Grunt!

Abby: Come on...

Gibbs and Tony grunt

Abby: Doesn't fictionnaire always put you all back together again.

Tony: I get the feeling we're going to be in for a bad ending soon.

Fictionnaire: Don't any of you have just a little faith in me? Plus... Would it be so bad if I kill Gibbs off...

Tony: Again.

Fictionnaire: Oh yeah again...

Tony: Yes again

Fictionnaire: I was young in NCIS fanfiction back then. I've matured.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Fictionnaire: Crockettsgirl told me not to say this but I must say I have to thank crockettsgirl for this chapter. She's really good and talented and has many great ideas. I love this chapter and mainly because of… She's standing right behind me isn't she?**_

_**Crockettsgirl headslaps fictionnaire: Told you not to say anything**_

_**Fictionnaire: Ow! Hey! What are you doing here?**_

_**Crockettsgirl: I'm here to kill me some bunnies**_

_**Fictionnaire: The hell you are**_

_**Fictionnaire chases Crockettsgirl around.**_

_**Tony: Now there's something you don't see everyday.**_

* * *

Tony open and closed his hands. Who was he trying to kid? Who were they trying to kid? He'd never been able to bring people back. How can people have such faith in him when he had so little? Tony leaned forward again and watched a nurse do a routine check up. Of course Steve Borden said he had told the Nurses not to react anyway. Still he felt ashamed to show he was weak.

"I know this is terrible," Tony swallowed. "Please come back to us Boss. This worked for me when I was at death's door. So… You will not die, you got that? After what you said to me I won't let you die on me," he thought about it for a moment as he watched the machines. There was no change… No miracle. No response. "I knew it," he said in a defeated tone.

Ah the hell with this he thought. "I can't do it… I'm not you. When you said I was always your son, I never said that you were always my dad. My real father treated me like a pair of shoes or something not as a person. Just an object that can be tossed around if needed. But you, you showed me I was worth the effort. You cared for me Boss. You were the first one to show me I was a person. I know you're a marine and all and tough and all that… But I love you Gibbs," Tony felt his voice breaking. He needed time to compose himself. How pathetic did it sound? It was difficult to keep the tears from flowing.

* * *

Gibbs was still playing the game of Pictionary when he studied his hand. Something felt funny. It felt as if someone had grasped his left hand. "Daddy," Kelly laughed. "Did you forget what you're going to draw?" Shannon and Kelly giggled. Gibbs gave a fake dejected look.

"No it's just," Gibbs voice was interrupted by a distant voice. The voice's heart cried out and tore him in two. He knew it was Tony's voice and it sounded so broken. He could see that Shannon and Kelly had heard it to.

* * *

Tony's breathing hitched as he sniffled. He doubted that any of it was helping. There was no change. "I know you're not one for apologies Boss. But I'm sorry I screwed up. I allowed you to go in without the vest. I didn't make you wear it," Tony lowered his head. That'd be a move he'd be kicking himself over and over. "I got someone else killed. That was my fault. I should've done better. I wanted to make you proud. That's all," he was losing the fight to hold his emotions in check.

* * *

Shannon saw the torment in Gibbs' eyes as he listened to the voice calling him. She hugged him as they both listened to the sadness in his voice. She wanted Gibbs to stay with Kelly and her. But this proved that Gibbs' heart will always be somewhere else. Shannon rested her head on his shoulder and massaged his back. "Go to him Jethro," she said sadly. "Go back to him," she wanted him with her so much but not like this.

"But," Gibbs managed to find his voice again.

"He needs you," Shannon told him. "Listen to him, he's feeling so guilty. We love you and do want you here with us but it's obvious you still belong there… Not here," she told him trying to swallow the tears. "Go to him my love," she said.

"I don't want to lose you two again," Gibbs responded. He was clearly torn between his two families. "I don't want to abandon you," he couldn't believe that he was even considering it.

"You're not… We'll be here when it is your time," Shannon told him. She held Gibbs' face to face her. "I know you're not good with words Jethro. But tell him again. Tell him you think of him as a son. Make him believe it Jethro," she instilled the words to him. "You need him like he needs you. I think you know you two have saved each other," she said.

There was a tug at his arm and he bent down to face his daughter. Kelly looked at him. "I understand Daddy. I really do. You have to help him. He's such a nice man, he's like a brother and you have to help him," she said trying to put up a brave face.

Gibbs had lowered his head. Kelly was smart and articulate and trying to be brave. "I can't," he raised his head and felt the tears streaming down his face. It was so hard to have to decide.

"It's the right thing to do Jethro and you've always done the right thing," Shannon said. "And there's so much good you still can do," she told him. "Just remember what we've said. "I love you."

"I love you to Shannon," Gibbs told her.

"I love you too daddy," Shannon held him tightly in a hug.

"I love you as well princess," Gibbs hugged her back. He still felt heartbroken about leaving them once again. But damn it, they were right. They were always right.

"We'll be waiting for you," Shannon said.

Gibbs got in one last big hug with them before they faded and he was covered in the mist. As he turned around his foot kicked something hard. He looked down and saw he was dressed in his camouflage fatigues and he reached down and shouldered the rifle and donned the hat. He headed back.

* * *

Tony rested his head on Gibbs' hand. He'd managed to regain some composure. His vision had become blurry as it struggled to see past the water that was welling up in his eyes. "I want you, I need you… I love you," Tony said as he held onto his hand as if doing that would stop him from fading.

Gibbs could hear the slight sobbing coming from beside him. He was still lying in darkness. He carefully opened his eyes. Gibbs could hear the sound of the heart monitor beeping. There was something attached to his left hand and he attempted to pull his hand away to see what it was.

Tony sniffled as Gibbs' hand tried to move. Tony's first instinct was to hold it firmly in place, he wasn't going to allow Gibbs to disappear from his touch. He heard someone clear their throat and he raised his head. "Boss?" Tony asked. The eyes looked at him. "Boss can you understand me? Do you know who I am? Do…" he began to say as Tony jumped to his feet.

"I was shot, DiNozzo not hit in the head," Gibbs noted that Tony hadn't let go of his deathgrip of his hand.

"You're awake… You're alive… You're," Tony shouted. He tried to reach the call button from where he was. Tony's mind raced, he had to call the nurses, he had to go and tell Ducky he couldn't let go of Gibbs.

"You can let go now DiNozzo," Gibbs said. He swallowed, his mouth was so dry. "I'm not going anywhere," Gibbs assured the younger man who seemed to be going frantic. Tony looked at him, he looked as if he didn't believe that. "I'm not going anywhere Son. Oh and I love you too son," Gibbs said. He could feel himself getting the nod from Shannon.

Tony pressed the call button. "What? Why? Oh my God!" Tony's face went as white as a sheet. "You heard that? You heard everything? I'm sorry Boss. It was just… Boss, I know but I meant every word of it," he sounded embarrassed. "Ducky told me something about patients on the brink and that. Well something anyway… Where were you?" He asked to change the subject.

"I don't remember," Gibbs said. That was a lie. Of course he remembered it vividly. But Tony didn't need to know the details.

"Oh, I got to tell Ducky… I got to call everybody," Tony looked to the door and back to Gibbs. "I got to," he thought as he slumped to the chair. "I have to notify everybody. I have to close the case. I have to do the reports. You have to be ok," Tony just suddenly felt overwhelmed and began crying into the sheets. He couldn't stop himself from losing it. The shoulders felt like they had everything on them.

Gibbs reached his hand over to Tony and rested his hand on the back of Tony's neck. "Why do you think I've been so good at delegating?" Gibbs said as he noticed Steve Borden walk quietly into the room. "Can you give us a moment?" Gibbs asked and waited for the doctor to leave. "Hey… You did great as team leader," he told him. Gibbs knew that the current outburst was just exhaustion and relief mixing.

"I got Agent Walker killed," Tony didn't look up.

"No… I know he was over at Vance's house with his agents. He was killed in the line of duty by those bastards," he knew that he must've been killed by them at Vance's house. He could safely assume that.

Tony shook his head and went to say something but quickly closed his mouth. "I have to get checked out by the doctors. There's one waiting at the door impatiently," Gibbs said. "Get Ducky to take you home so you can rest," he ordered his senior field agent.

"But there's something else I have to do," Tony said. Truth be told… Tony just didn't dare leave Gibbs' side.

"Nothing that can't wait," Gibbs told him. "Now, go," he ordered.

"On it Boss," Tony responded.

* * *

_**Fictionnaire: Alright this was a short chapter. But I think I needed some relief. Alright… So every doctor in Bethesda has a famous name. Doctor Steve Borden is actually the same name as the Wrestler known as Sting. Hence the bat joke. Hey! Why is everyone crying? It wasn't that bad was it?**_

_**(Tony, Gibbs, Abby, Ducky, McGee and Ziva are wiping their eyes)**_

_**Fictionnaire: Alright… Hey! Alright who put a padlock on my bunny cage. A digital 9 digit lock? Retinal scanner? Fingerprint scanner? Now isn't this a bit of an overkill crockettsgirl? Oh and you all didn't think I was going to kill Gibbs off did you?**_


	12. Chapter 12

**Fictionnaire: I don't think this story has too many chapters left in her. Shame really. Maybe another two… Maybe**

**Gibbs and Tony: Thank god for that**

**Fictionnaire: I wouldn't say that until I know what I've got planned in the next chapter.**

**Gibbs and Tony gulp.**

**Fictionnaire: If you're going to be like that… I just might make things worse for you two**

**Tony: Yeah? How?**

**Fictionnaire waggles his eyebrows: Do you really want to find out?**

**Tony shakes his head.**

**Fictionnaire: Then behave yourself.**

* * *

Ducky had taken Tony back to his place after picking up some of his pajamas. He knew that the young man needed to rest. Tony spent all the time in the car staring out the window and thinking about everything.

"You should get some sleep my dear boy," Ducky said.

"Don't think I can Ducky," Tony answered seriously. "There's so much going on. I have to inform everyone with the phone. I have to talk with Tom Morrow and the guy at the CIA to reinstate Gibbs' clearance and get McGee to fix up his records," Tony ran things through his mind. No, he couldn't sleep. "I have to see what Ziva got out of the interrogation," he sat on the couch.

"I'll be right back Anthony. In the meantime, get changed," Ducky said to him.

"Look this isn't really necessary," Tony attempted to weasel out.

Tony had got the pajamas on. He really didn't know why he was arguing, they always win out in the end. Tony really thought that he was just doing it out of habit. "Upstairs," Ducky ordered Tony as he placed a couple of tablets in his hand.

"What are these?" Tony asked.

Ducky shrugged before explaining. Tony was never one to take anything he didn't know what they were. Even if he was seriously sick he still needed to know. "They're a sedative Anthony," he explained to him. "You need sleep and your mind is racing and you need to rest. You look exhausted," Ducky said.

Tony sighed and very reluctantly took the tablets and water that the older man had offered. "I hope you do realize that what you did at the hospital was incredible," he didn't receive much of a response. Ducky knew that he wouldn't make a huge deal out of it.

Tony climbed under the sheets. "I don't think they'll work," Tony said as he waited. This felt so ridiculous. Thoughts were still racing through his head. McGee, Ziva, Gibbs and Abs… She had to know Gibbs was alright. "I have to call Abs," his mind was trying to push the words out. "Tell her Gibbs is alright," Tony said.

"I'll do that," Ducky said. "Now you stay there while I go and talk to the others," he told Tony.

"Tell them I think they did great," He wasn't even sure that came out right. Tony shook his head to try and think clearly and wake himself up a bit so he could finish. But sleep claimed him first.

"Will do my dear boy," Ducky told him.

* * *

_**NCIS HQ**_

McGee was always one to go all gooey when he received good news. He'd just gotten off the phone to Ducky and he couldn't wipe the large grin off his face. "Ziva," he shouted across the bullpen. The sudden outburst made Ziva look up from her typing. "Gibbs is ok. He's awake," McGee said as he just stopped himself from breaking into a cheer.

"That is great… How is he? And Tony?" Ziva asked.

"We don't have a definitive answer on that yet. Should know more by the morning and we should be able to visit him by then," McGee explained. It was tough to think of what to say next. "Ducky said that Tony wants us to know that we did a good job," McGee looked serious as he noticed that Ziva was trying not to laugh.

"Perhaps _Tony_ should be the one in the hospital," Ziva said. At times she couldn't understand Tony at all. He was so complex. At times his juvenile antics were interrupted by times of adult and thoughtful action.

"I heard that your lead agent's going to be all right," Brenda had heard the loud conversation from her desk. "That's good news," she said.

At first, Ziva thought she was being sarcastic but her tone seemed earnest. "Thanks. I am sorry to hear about Agent Walker," Ziva stood up.

"Thank you Officer David," Brenda replied. "But we all know that each time we walk out that door it could be our last," she said before leaving.

McGee was looking over a file and watched her leave. "You know she reminds me a lot of Faith Coleman," McGee approached Ziva's desk so that their voices couldn't be heard by anyone else.

"Actually I think Coleman has more personality and that is saying something," Ziva said. "What else did Ducky say?" She asked.

"Oh he said Tony wanted us to work on the reports and talk with Fornell about the interrogation," McGee answered as he went back to his desk. He looked through his computer to try and trace the financial records. "You know I think Tony may have been right," McGee suddenly said.

"What about?" Ziva asked.

"This group could be a rogue version of the A-Team," McGee answered her. He hummed the tune to the A-Team but Ziva just shook her head. "Anyway, what I mean is… One month prior to all this starting a secondary account under his name Bradley Stevens. There was a large deposit in three equal installments," McGee explained as he typed more into the computer. "The deposit was made by Paul Tymer. He was a prime suspect in the murder of the Triple Virginia Homicide case. They couldn't hold him in custody without risking damaging the case," McGee explained.

"Was that not ages ago?" Ziva asked. She wondered why it took it this long to get any action on it.

"Maybe Mister Tymer was finally able to get the money together," McGee offered a reasonable explanation. "Perhaps he thought that something was going to come to light. I'm not sure. There's a current address. Shall we wait for Tony or go ourselves?" McGee asked. That was a lead that had to be followed up.

"We should follow it up now," Ziva said to him.

"Right… So Bradley Stevens team is like a team of erasers maybe," McGee grabbed the keys and donned his jacket.

"Erasers?" Ziva couldn't see the connection to little things on the end of pencils.

"You know… There's a problem, they're paid to erase any mistakes. It's actually the first time I've heard anyone doing that in real life," McGee said as they approached the elevator.

"We have people like that in Israel," Ziva simply commented.

* * *

_**Tymer Residence**_

McGee walked up to the door of the residence with Ziva beside him. He rung the doorbell and waited for a response. "Maybe nobody's home," McGee said since there wasn't a response.

"There is oil on the driveway over there that looks pretty fresh," Ziva commented. It was still gleaming and it was safe to assume that the owner probably couldn't afford to get a new car or pay to repair the old one.

McGee knocked on the door and waited for an answer. "Who is it?" The man's voice came from the other side.

"Are you Mister Paul Tymer?" McGee asked.

"Yes… If you're Jehova's Witnesses, I'm not interested," Paul responded.

"Special Agent McGee and Officer David… NCIS," McGee and Ziva showed their IDs to the man. "We need a word with you Mister Tymer," he said.

There was a moment of silence. "I know what this is about," Paul said as he took a close look at the identification. "I see… Do you mind if I go get my coat first?" He asked and walked deeper in his house.

McGee nodded. "I am going around back," Ziva said as she drew her weapon.

McGee did the same. "Be careful," he whispered. Ziva nodded in response. Suddenly there was a loud _CRACK!_ And it echoed throughout the house. McGee and Ziva looked at each other then at the door and kicked it in.

They quickly had their weapons raised to chest level as they walked through the house. There wasn't another sound. They walked into the study where the lifeless body of Paul Tymer was lying on the floor with blood spilling out. McGee pursed his lips and scratched his head. "I guess he was guilty," he said as they began working the scene.

* * *

_**NCIS HQ**_

Tony met with McGee and Ziva in the bullpen. Part of him felt guilty about leaving his team unattended. But it wasn't like he was given a choice. "Hey you two," Tony greeted. He was glad to have had the chance to be rested. "So what's been happening?" He asked.

"Well you were right with you're A-Team reference," McGee answered. "We did trace the bank accounts and found that Bradley Stevens received three equal amounts large deposits about a month ago," he explained. "The deposits were made by a Paul Tymer. We did go to question him but he killed himself once we identified ourselves as NCIS. It appears that he knew he was caught," McGee explained.

"Yes, Paul Tymer was using rubbers. That was clear now," Ziva explained.

Tony did his best not to laugh. But he couldn't let it slide without saying something. "It's good that you thought to dig so deeply into his personal life," Tony said.

"It didn't take too much digging to find out he used rubbers," Ziva said.

McGee had quickly caught on. "You mean Erasers Ziva," he told her.

"Yes," she replied.

"You two should've have gotten me first," Tony lightly admonished them. "Not go on your own."

"Well Ducky said you were pretty out of it," McGee explained their actions.

Tony could kick himself. Of course he was out of it and would've been useless. "You're right," Tony responded. "Good work. I want your reports on my desk by thirteen hundred tomorrow afternoon," He decided to give them extra time. In the morning they can see Gibbs and see how he was with their own eyes. They quickly said see ya. Tony felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Someone was watching him. He craned his neck around and up. Vance was leaning against the railing on the landing and as soon as he noticed Tony looking at him, Vance strode away.

* * *

Fictionnaire: Next chapter will be the last chapter

Everyone cheers!

Fictionnaire: That doesn't mean I can't kill one of you off

Cheering stops

Fictionnaire: Good...


	13. Chapter 13

_**

* * *

**_

FORCED FINAL!

_**Tony: I think crockettsgirl's right… Fictionnaire's got a thing for Faith Coleman**_

_**Fictionnaire: Do not!**_

_**Tony: Sounds like it**_

_**Fictionnaire: This is ridiculous… You were the one obsessed with her pencils**_

_**Abby: That sounds really dirty when you say it like that.**_

* * *

Only a couple of weeks had passed since the case had been wrapped up. Tony was enjoying the role of team leader even though he wished that Gibbs was there. Of course Gibbs still had some sick time on his hands even though Gibbs and the doctor almost came over blows over that. Steve Borden had only agreed to release Gibbs into Ducky's custody and with the promise that the gruff Marine would take it east. Tony had a good laugh over that one.

The most shocking time was when he observed Gibbs entering the bullpen and not-so-quick-timing it up to the stairs. Tony wondered what on Earth was going on. Gibbs wasn't scheduled to be back.

"I wonder what he's doing here?" McGee looked over at Tony.

"Don't know McGee," Tony answered him. "Why don't you go and ask him why he's disobeying direct orders from the doc?" Tony challenged him.

"No way," McGee responded. He wouldn't dare do that.

"What is the matter McGee?" Ziva asked. "Are you a little cock?" She asked.

"I think you'll find it's…" Tony began to say. "Actually I think you got that Americanism right for McGee Ziva," Tony corrected himself.

McGee rolled his eyes. "It's chicken," he told her.

Tony shook his head and laughed. He thought he could have Ziva going with that for awhile. Too bad McGee had thought it best to correct her. "I wonder what he's going to see Lance Vance Dance about," he mumbled to himself.

* * *

_**Director Vance's Office**_

Gibbs was still somewhat sore but was adamant that he wanted to see Vance on a professional level. It was awhile before Gibbs even felt good enough to get to work. Sure things could have been said on the phone, but he wanted this face to face. Gibbs carefully sat down on the chair at the opposite side of the table where the Director was sitting.

"I'm glad you agreed to see me," Gibbs shifted uncomfortably until he found a position that was more comfortable.

"Well you sounded very forceful on the phone Agent Gibbs," Vance told him as he waited somewhat impatiently for Gibbs to finish moving around in the seat. "What did you wish to see me about?" Vance demanded an answer.

"Tony," Gibbs said simply.

"What about him?" Vance responded in his usual callous manner.

"Well he figured something was going on. He organized a two part operation and closed the investigation," Gibbs said. He was proud of his Senior Field Agent. He'd told him plenty of times over the last week.

"If you're suggesting I go and congratulate Agent DiNozzo on a job well done. I have, it's done. He did fine work but I don't need to keep telling him that," Vance replied. "I understand that you two have this father son thing going on," he added.

Gibbs shook his head. "That's not the reason I came to see you," Gibbs told him. "I think Tony DiNozzo is ready to lead his own team," he knew that Tony had a rough time of it but understood that Tony needed just to let it all out at the hospital. But what Tony would probably never brag about was that it was HIS team who saved the day.

"You're not thinking of resigning over this are you?" Vance asked.

"Not at all Leon," Gibbs answered. "I just think Tony's ready for his own team," he told him. "A couple of years ago he turned down a chance to lead his own team. Sure he cited different reasons but it was obvious Tony didn't believe he was ready. I didn't think he's ready… But he's ready now," Gibbs was a hundred percent positive about that. He watched Vance go to the filing cabinet before answering. It felt strange coming to Leon with something like this.

"I have been observing Agent DiNozzo in your absence," Vance confessed. "It's true that he hasn't really lost his juvenile ways… He's proven that he knows when to put away childish things," Vance added.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "You agree?" He asked skeptically.

Vance chuckled lightly. "I'm not always the villain that you think of me as Agent Gibbs," he said.

"I never thought you as a villain Leon," Gibbs said truthfully. Well, not a villain as such.

"Alright then… An asshole," Vance corrected himself. Gibbs shrugged in response since he couldn't argue with that. "Yes, I do agree with you a hundred percent. And it just so happens that there's a team out there that no longer has a team leader," Vance had pulled out their files and looked over them. "This isn't an easy team to begin with," he explained. A team that had lost their leader would never be easy for the next leader.

"Of course I don't expect it to run smoothly," Gibbs had no delusions about that. "But he will be able to know that he could always come to me for advice," he said. "But I know Tony will do great," Gibbs assured the director.

"You are proud of him aren't you?" Vance asked as he made his way to the phone.

"Of course I'm proud of my boy," Gibbs wasn't surprised at how easy the words came out.

* * *

Tony occasionally looked up at the landing to see if Gibbs was coming back down. He scrunched up a piece of paper and tossed it at Ziva. "Hey Ziva," Tony called to get her attention as if the paper balls weren't doing that. "They've been up there for a while," he pointed upstairs.

"Well after everything I am sure they have a lot to talk about," Ziva replied trying not to sound annoyed by the paper balls on her desk.

Tony thought for a moment and scrunched up another piece of paper. After the tough case he just wanted to let his hair down a bit. He drew his arm back and was prepared to throw it when the phone ringing caused him to almost fall off the chair and Tony dropped the paper.

McGee laughed as Tony struggled to keep the chair upright.

"Special Agent DiNozzo," Tony listened to the voice on the other end before hanging up. "I've been summoned," he said.

"Maybe Gibbs has heard about your co-operation with Fornell," Ziva smiled.

"Or using his office without asking," McGee chimed in.

"You guys… are nutty," Tony double timed it up the stairs and went into Vance's office.

Tony was surprised to see Gibbs and Vance sitting there in apparent silence. Tony rubbed his neck nervously. "You wanted to see me?" He asked Vance.

Vance and Gibbs looked at each other before turning their attention to Tony. "You handled yourself incredibly during the case," Vance said. Tony looked like he was going to fall over in shock. Vance had already told him that. "We have been talking and decided that it's about time you get your own team here at NCIS. You are aware that Agents Jack Landis, Brenda Nichols and Charles Peterson are without a team leader," Vance explained as he slid their files across the table.

"About that… I," Tony responded as he tried to find the words.

Gibbs observed this reaction and Tony's eyes kept darting to the senior agent. "Of course, you'll take the team after Agent Gibbs comes back. What do you say Agent DiNozzo?" Vance asked.

THE END

* * *

_**A/N: That is the end… Sequel? Or no Sequel that is the question.**_

_**Gibbs: You can't end it there**_

_**Fictionnaire: I can… It's a hanging cliffhanger.**_

_**Tony: A what?**_

_**Fictionnaire: Oh you probably know it as a last reel ending**_

_**Tony: Really? Great **_

**_A/N: Lance Vance Dance is a tribute to GTA Vice City. The line... "You guys... are nutty" is from Moving Violations._**


End file.
